| LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, t 




— 



LETTERS 



TO THE 



INHABITANTS 

O F 

NORTHUMBERLAND 

AND 

ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD, 

ON SUBJECTS INTERESTING TO THE AUTHOR- AND To'THEM. 



TO WHICH IS ADDED 

A LITTER TO A FRIEND IN PARIS, RELATING TO 
MR. LIANCOURT's TRAVELS IN THE NORTH 
AMERICAN STATES. 



BY JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, L. L. D. F. R. S. fcv. 

Nun-quamns reponam ? 



PHILADELPHIA: 



PRINTED BY JOHN BIOREN, 
For JOHUCONRAD, & Cc No. 30 Chefnut ilreet, M, & J, CONRAD, & Co. 
No, idMarketftveet, BALTIfCfORE, and RAPINE, CONRAD & Co. 
WASHINGTON CITY, 

1801. 



* V \ v 



ERRATA. 

Page 9 line M, Note, for those read thefe. 

39 line 5 believed read believe. 

45 line 6 from the bottom, reader read readers. 



THE 



PREFACE. 

J HAVE been blamed by many of my partial friends 
for noticing, in thefe Letters, the low fcurrility of 
Mr. Cobbet 5 under the name of Peter Porcupine. 
But befides letting it pafs unnoticed for five years, it 
had a much more extenfive effect than thofe friends 
were aware of, and had great influence not only with 
Englifhmen like himfelf, who now appears to have 
been hired for the purpofe, but with great numbers of 
native Americans, who adopted all his fentiments 
concerning me ; and the language of fome of them 
was, and ftiil continues to be, not lefs abufive. 

My principal motive, however, for writing thefe 
Letters, though I did not chufe to mention it at the 
time, was, that the injurious idea of my principles 
and conduct were adopted by fome perfons in whofe 
power it was to do more than threaten. Of this I 
was informed by a zealous friend of adminiftration ? 
of the goodnefs of whofe information I had no rea- 
fon to doubt, any more than of his friendfhip for 
me, and he affured me that I was particularly watched 
and threatened. Upon this, knowing my innocence, 
and that much more was generally believed of me 
than was true, I determined, agreeably to my ufual 
franknefsj to let the public know all that I had dom 9 



ii 



PREFACE. 



and even all that / thought, concerning the meafures 
of adminiilration, and leave my aceufers, thus better 
informed, to do what they might think proper. This 
I, therefore, . did in the following Letters, addrefied 
to thofe who had the belt opportunity of knowing 
whether what I advanced was true or falfe ; and I 
have reafon to think the publication was not without 
lb me good effects. Even fome of the more zealous 
federalifts, as they call themfelves, who had given 
too much countenance to the calumnies concerning 
me, 1 have reafon to think, have a more favourable 
opinion of me than they had been led to entertain. 

Since the publication of thefe Letters, there has a 
hippy change taken place in the general fentiments of 
the people of this country, with refpecl to the mea- 
fures animadverted upon in them ; and, as I am told, 
I may flatter myfelf that, as far as the circulation of 
them extended, they contributed fomething to fo de- 
fir able an end. 

It may now be hoped, that, the people in general 
being now better informed concerning their true in- 
tereft, and their real friends, by many excellent publi- 
cations, efpecially thofe in the Aurora, no more at- 
tempts will be made to revive fuch odious and ruinous 
meafures; that the freedom of fpeechand of the prefs, 
that true palladium of all liberty, civil and religious, 
will from this time be held facred ; that the country 
will not again be burdened with the enormous ex- 
pence of a {landing army, on the mallow pretence of 
opoofing the invafion of a foreign enemy, but for the 
real purpofe of fdencing the clamours of the people 
$gamft an unpopular adminifLration., or even for the 
rapport; of any navy beyond what may be necefiary 
for the defence of the coafling trade. 

It may aito be hoped that, in time, though not im- 
mediately, the true nature and value of commerce will 
be better underftood, that goodfenfe will prevail over 
prejudice, and reafon, and a regard to the true interefl 



PREFACE. 



« »4 
111 



of the country, over that; falfe pride which has in- 
volved other countries in needlefs wars, and brought 
them to the brink of deftruclion. Perhaps too the ex- 
pence attending embaffies to nations with which we 
have little intercourfe may be leiTened. 

By this time the dread of foreigners may be prefa- 
ced to have vaniflied, io that the reception, and na- 
turalization, of thofe who are ready to fly from the op- 
preflion and miferies of Europe may be made as eafy 
as formerly, and this country become again what was 
its greatefl boaft, the afylum of the perfecuted in the caufe 
of liberty i civil and religious. And it mould be borne in 
mind, that from this, encouragement every country 
will derive the greateft advantage as well as the great- 
eft glory. For the perfecuted are commonly the mo 3: 
active and ingenious as well as the moft confcientioui 
of men ; and they will bring with them, in the arts 
and improvements of various kinds, what will abun- 
dantly repay the country for the advantages they de- 
rive from it. 

It were farther to be wilhed that, fince the /edition 
acl is now generally thought to have been unconftitu- 
tional, a proper opportunity will be taken of folemnly 
declaring it to have been fo, and alfo to indemnify, 
as far as it can be done, thofe who have fufFered by the 
operation of it. Of the equally obnoxious alien a& ? it 
was happy that no advantage was taken, notwith- 
ftanding the clamour that was made for it in my cafe, 
and perhaps that of others. 

The fincere good will that I bear to this country, 
and my admiration of its general conftitution, lead 
me to exprefs a wifh, that in future it may be better 
guarded a gain ft mifconftruclion and abuie, efpecially 
by putting it out of the power of a Preftdent, and a 
part of the fenate, to encroach upon the powers exprefs- 
ly given to the whole con grefs, to regulate commerce, 
and decide all queftions concerning peace or war ; and 
that fome plan may be adopted to guard any other 



V 



PREFACE. 



part of the conftitution, and to facilitate any real im- 
provement of it. 

Laftly, may it not be hoped that, in the prevalence 
of moderation and liberality, fome cenfure will be paf- 
fed on the alarming doctrine of conftruclive treafon ad- 
vanced in the trial of Mr. Fries. His conduct, and 
that of thofe who joined him, was certainly cenfura- 
ble, and deferving of punifhment. But no perfon 
out of the vortex of party can well imagine that they 
had any defign to evert urn the conftitution ; and there- 
fore the offence could not be that of high treafon. 

On the principle advanced by judge Chafe, I do not 
fee but that any other offence againft the peace and 
good order of ibciety may be judged to be high trea- 
fon ; and this leads to confound all crimes and punifh- 
ments. It makes all laws, like thofe of Draco, to be 
written in blood. Such an abufe of profeffional know- 
ledge and power is deferving of the fevereft aniraad- 
verfion, and the Frefident deferved well of his coun- 
try for giving no countenance to it. 

All that I can do as an inhabitant of the country (as 
much interefted in its welfare as any other inhabitant, 
foreigner or native) is to endeavour, in the fphere in 
which I move, and by the means that are in my power, 
to promote its prosperity; and this, at my time of 
life, muft chiefly confift in giving my h on eft opinion, 
as in this publication I have done, by what meafures 
this profperity may be moft effectually promoted. But 
after giving this opinion, with the reafons on which 
it is founded, I muft, as becomes every good citizen, 
acquiefce in the decifions of the legitimate rulers, whe- 
ther I can approve of them or not. 

N. B. As the primary deiign of thofe Letters was 
the vindication of my character and conduct, I fhall 
fubjoin to this edition, a Letter to a friend in Paris, 
which has the fame object. 



The CONTENTS 



LETTER I. 

Of my Situation as an Alien. - - Page i 

LETTER II. 

Of my French Citizen/hip, and French Principles. 6 

LETTER III. 

Of my Right to treat of Subjecls of civil Policy, and 
the Advantages I have had for acquiring Know- 
ledge of this Kind. - ~ ii 

LETTER IV. 

Of what I have done with Refpecl to the Politics of 
this Country. - - 17 

LETTER V. 

Of the intercepted Letters, and of the French Revo- 
lution, m - - - 23 

LETTER VI. 

Of the Style of Abufe in the Writings of Mr. Gobbet > 
alias Peter Porcupine. - - 30 

LETTER VII. 
Of my Religion* - - ~ 38 



CONTENTS. 



A Defence of Mr. Cooper and my f elf in Anfwer to 
a graft Mifreprefentation of an Application to the 
Prefident. - *■ - Page 44 

LETTER VIII. 

Cf the Innocence and Advantage of the free Difcuf 
fion of all Political Subjects* - 50 

LETTER IX. 

Of Improvements in the Canfliiuiion of the United 
States, - 55 

LETTER X. 

Of Infringements of the Conflitution by the acls of Con- 
grefs refpecling the Regulation of Commerce the Pow- 
er of making Peace and War, and Reftriclions of 
the Freedom of Speech' and of the P reft, - 62 

LETTER XL 

Of the Laws relating to Aliens , and the Naturaliza- 
tion of Foreigners, - . 68 

LETTER 111. 

Of the Policy of America with Refpecl to Foreign 
Nations. - . JZ 

Maxims of Political Arithmetic, applied to the cafe of 
the United States of America ; firft publijhed in 
the Aurora, for February 26 and 27, 1798. - 81 

-4 Letter to a Friend in Paris, - 91 



TO THE 



INHABITANTS 

O P 

NORTHUMBERLAND 

AND ITS 

NEIGHBOURHOOD. 



LETTER L 

Of my Situation as a?t Alien. 

My Friends and Neighbours, 

WHEN any perfon becomes an object of more 
mfpicion than he wifhes to lie under, he natu- 
rally appeals to thofe who have had the beft oppor- 
tunity of knowing him ; and if they be fatisfied with 
refpect to his conduct, it is the beft means of fatisfying 
others. This unpleafant character of zfufpecled per/on^ 
ho (tile to the country in which I live, aggravated by 
the confideration of its having afforded me protection 
when I could not live with comfort, or even. with fafe- 
ty, in my native country, you well know I havejborne 
for fome time. 

1 



1g the Inhabitants 



I think it barely poffible for a man who has, in 
the five years that I have been among you, done fo little 
of an offenfive nature, to have become the object of 
more fufpicion and rancour than I have incurred. The 
mod popular writer in this country, and who receives 
the greateft countenance from the perfons in power, 
fays, " I hope I lhall fee the malignant old TartufF 
" of Northumberland begging his bread through, the 
" ftreets of Philadelphia, and ending his days in the 
" poor houfe, without a friend to clofe his eyes." 
The curfe of Ernulphus in Triftram Shandy does not 
exceed this. 

In order to keep as clear as poffible, and as free 
from fufpicion, with refpe£t to the politics of this coun- 
try, I did not chufe even to be naturalized, and the 
Prefident, to whom I mentioned my objection to it, 
much approved of my refolution. But I find that this 
precaution has not availed me any thing. 

Being an alien, the Prefident has been again and a- 
gain called upon to carry into execution againfl me thq 
lare aft of congrefs refpeding aliens. It has been faid, 
that " if what I have done pafTes unnoticed by govern - 
" ment.,it will operate as the greater! encouragement 
,;fi that its enemies have ever received. They will lay 
" and j'uftly too, that tho' the Prefident is armed with 
" power, he is afraid to make ufe of it, and that the 
<c alien law is a mere bug bear." 

I hope, however, to convince you that fuch an 
order would be cruel and unjuft ; for that I am not fo 
very dangerous a perfon as this writer and hi c party 
fuppofe. 

That I may conduct this addrefs to you with fome 
regard to method, I fhall firft confider what is object- 
ed to me from what 1 am, and then from what I have 
done. After this I fiiall tell you what I think, both 
with refpecT to your government in general, and the 
late adrniniftration of it, with the reafons on which 
my opinions are founded ; and thus you will know 



Of Northumberland, &c. 



3 



better than you can do at prefent what to think of me, 
and of my accufers too. In doing this I mall, with 
Pope, 

— — pour out all myfelf as plain, 

As honeft Shippen, or as old Montagne. 

In the nrft place, then, I am to confider what is 
obje&ed to me from what lam. In fome refpects 
neither praife nor blame will attach to what a man is, 
becaufe it was not in his power to have been any other. 
It will not, for inilance, be objected me, at leaft as an 
unfavourable circumftance, that I am a native of Eng- 
land, even by thofe whofe greateft boaft it is that they 
are native Americans. Nor mall I be cenfured for 
faying, what I always have done, and what with great 
truth I repeat, that I am proud of my native country, 
and am as hncere a well wifher to it as any American 
can be to- this country. It does not depend on our- 
felves, but upon our parents, and upon God, who af- 
ligns to every man his proper fiation and duty, where 
we mall be born. 

But of what importance is it where I was born, or 
whence I came ; whether I dropped among you 
from the clouds, or rofe out of the earth? Here I am. 
Here is my family. Here is my property, and every 
thing elfe that can attach a man to any place. Let any 
perfon only view my houfe, my garden, my library, 
my* laboratory, and the other conveniences with which 
I am furrounded, and let him withal confider my age, 
and the little difpolition that I have mewn to ramble 
any whither, and fay whether any perfon among your- 
felves, or in the United States, could remove with 
more difficulty, or with more lofs, than I mould do, 
And yet there are great numbers who would think 
no more of an order to fend me out of the country 
(which it is in the power of the Prehdent to give, and 
even without deigning to give me a hearing) than if I 
was a pauper, without houfe or home ; and they would 



4 



To the Inhabitants 



rejoice as much in it as if I had been a burden to the 

diitricl. 

It is furely, alfo, as probable that I lhall have a 
real attachment to a country, and the government of 
it, to which I came voluntarily ', and from a preference 
of them to any other, as if I had been a native, and 
confequently had had no choice in the cafe. Is it fup- 
pofed by my adversaries that I have any predilection 
for England, or the government of it, merely becaufe 
I was born there ? 

If I am an alien myfelf, my Tons are naturalized ; 
and muft not a father feel for them ? Can he be an 
enemy to the country to which they belong ? 

I have been repeatedly reprefented as a man ruined 
by fpeculations in land, and driven into faction by 
want. But it is not unknown to you that, except the 
purchafe of fome lands on the Loyalfock, in which I 
am interefted in conjunction with my fon and others, 
who made the purchafe before my arrival, and on 
which a promiiing fettlement is now making, I have 
made no purchafe whatever, except for the conve- 
nience of my perfonal reiidence. You who know me, 
and the manner in which I live, will be furprifed to 
hear of my poverty. Though I do not boaft of my 
riches, I am thankful to a good providence for an 
abundant competence, equal to all my wants. 

You will more particularly fmile to hear my &c- 
cufer fay, that I live in " a Jhed, which I dignify with 
the name qf&hmfe\" when you know that, with refpeft 
both to convenience and elegance, it is fuperior to any 
houfe in the county, and excepting Philadelphia, and 
its neighbourhood, there are perhaps few that are 
equal to it in the whole State. It would be a better 
founded ; objection to fay, that its appearance is too 
Ariftocratical for the habitation of a Democrat. - My 
library and philofophical apparatus are, without boaft- 
Ing, fuperior to any thing of the kind in this country, 
and of much more value than my houfe* How fac- 



Of Northumberland &fr. 



5 



tious foever I may have been, you are fatisfied that 
my circumftances could not have furniflied any mo- 
tive for factious conduct. 

He alfo fays that, " like Mr. Vaughan, I mall leave 
" this country in dudgeon the moment I can do it 
" with a profpect of living elfewhere with fafety and 
" in eafe." You who know the provifion I have 
made for fpending my days in comfort here, are bet- 
ter judges of the probability of this than any perfon, 
at a diftance can be. Mr. Gobbet's account of myfelf, 
and my conduct, in his pamphlet on the fubject. of 
my emigration, has juft as much truth in it as his ac- 
count of my houfe and my intentions. 

It is, however, moft ferioufly obje&ed to me that 
I am a French citizen, and have adopted French princi- 
ples ; and in the opinion of many perfons thofe prin- 
ciples are truly diabolical, fo that I might as well have 
come to you from the infernal regions. This I feel to 
be dangerous ground ; but having undertaken to give 
you the bed account that I can of what I am, I mall, 
if you will have the courage to follow me, venture 
upon it in my next Letter. In the mean time, I am, 

My Friends and Neighbours, 

Your fincerely, 

J. PRIESTLEY. 



s 



6 



To the Inhabitants 



LETTER II. 
Of French Citizen/hip, and French Principles. 
My Friends and Neighbours, 

IN my laft I promifed to confider what is objected 
to me as a Citizen of France. This I find to be an ao 
cufation of a very ferious nature. For on this account 
alone it is taken for granted that I muji be an enemy 
to this country, which for fome time pail has been in 
a Rate nearly bordering on open hoftility with France*. 
Mr. Hall conliders it as a fufficient proof of Mr. 
Cooper's being inimical to this country, that, on a 
late occafion, he was fuppofed to have acted in concert 
with me ; as if I was not only avowedly hoftile to this 
country myfelf, but muft necefTarily communicate the 
fame hoftile difpofition to all perfons who have any 
communication with me. 

But, my friends, hear a little reafon on this fubjecl:. 
You have heard a great deal that is not reafon, but 
mere paffionate declamation upon it ; and efpecially 
attend to the circumftance of the time in which I was 
made a citizen of France, and the occafion of it. It 
was fimply as a well known friend of general liberty, 
in confequence of my having written in defence of 

* I mould have hoped that, as a fir anger and an alien, deprived by 
an a<5l of Congrefs, of the protection of the law, I mould have been 
confidered as having the ftronger claim on the forbearance and kind- 
nefs of my neighbours, efpecially thofe witk whom I had had any 
friendly inrercouvfe ; and that if I had faid or done any thing that 
Jiiight have brought me into danger, it would have been concealed, 
rather than have been, without any provocation, or neceffity,- brought 
forward to the view of the public. But what rights are they that 
party fpirit will refpecl ? Not always even thofe of nature, much 
lefs thofe of neighbourhood and acquaintance. 



Of Northumberland, tsfc. 



7 



the liberties of America, as well as thofe of France, 
and as one who had fuffered in the caufe. 

Confider alfo that at that time there was no fufpi- 
cion of a war between England and France. The 
French king was then living, the conftitution of France 
was then reduced to a limited monarchy refembling 
that of England, and other Englishmen, and among 
them Mr. Wilberforce, a fail friend of Mr. Pitt, were 
made citizens of France. He was diftinguiihed in this 
manner on account of his taking the lead in the mea- 
fures that were adopted for the abolition of the Have 
trade. It was alfo, I believe, at the fame time that 
your General Washington received the fame compli- 
ment ; and furely you do not for this fufpect him of 
being your enemy. 

In thefe circumftances it is very poffible that any 
native American might not have thought it at all dis- 
reputable to have been made a citizen of France, ob- 
noxious as the character happens to be at prefent. I 
certainly conlider it as an honour to me, and think 
that I have more reafon to be proud of it than of being 
a native of any country whatever. I wiih I had done 
more to deferve it. 

But it is alleged by thofe who wifh to make the 
moil of every circumftance that can be conftrued to 
my prejudice, that, beftdes being a citizen of France, 
I was elected a member of the Conventional Affembly, 
appointed for the purpofe of framing a new conftitu- 
tion for that detefted country, and that this implies a 
nearer relation to it. To this, alfo, I plead guilty. I 
was elecled in a great number of the departments of 
France, and was informed that I mould have been 
elected in many more, but that it was well underftood 
that I certainly mould be in others. I mould have 
been elected for the department of Paris, if it had not 
been for the oppofition of Robefpierre, who very pro- 
perly objected to it, as not fit for any foreigner. I 
faw the honourable propofal in the fame light, i was 



8 



fo the Inhabitants 



pleafed with the compliment, but declined the office ; 
and what could the proudeft native American have 
done more ? Thefe circumftances, I am willing to 
think, will be deemed to operate as fome extenuation 
of my offence. 

Confider, alfo, the change that has taken place with 
refpecl to opinions, as well as other things, in the laft 
live years among yourfelves. When 1 came to this 
country, in the year 1794, I found the people in ge- 
neral in unifon with me on this fubjecl:. On all pub- 
lic occaiions, Succefs to the Arms of France was never 
omitted among the toafts that were drank. Com- 
plaints were at that time univerfaily made of the info- 
lence and injuftice of the Englim, and even an open 
rupture with England was generally expected. There 
was no complaint of French principles then, tho' they 
were the fame that they are now. They were univer- 
faily confidered as the principles of general liberty, and 
the fame with American principles, that is republican, in 
oppofition to monarchical. The change, therefore, that 
has taken place is not in me, but in the people here ; 
and confldering that old men do not eafily change 
their feritiments, or attachments, if I muft change, 
you muft allow me more time, and this I cannot pre- 
tend to fix ; but I mall be as expeditious as I can. 

If by French principles be meant the principles of 
the French government, 1 do not fee where they differ 
in any thing that is effentiai from thofe of your own. 
In neither of the two conftitutions are there any here- 
ditary honours or powers. Ail offices are elective, and 
for a moderate time. In both there are three diffincl 
powers, an executive, a fenate, and a houfe of repre- 
sentatives ; tho' not called by the fame names, or con- 
nected in quite the fame manner ; and in neither of the 
countries is there any form of religion eftablifhed by 
law. 

The great outlineof the two conftitutions is, there- 
fore, the very fame. In fome other things they differ, 



Of Northumberland? Isfc. 



9 



as in their executive there are five perfons, and in 
yours only one*. But which of them is beft adapted 
to anfwer its end experience only can decide. Tho* 
each has its peculiar advantages, as in a future letter 
I may fliew, and I am difpofed to give the preference 
to that of this country ; yet as far as I can fee, either 
of them may do very well, and whatever is found to 
be inconvenient in either of them may be changed at 
a proper time. So great an agreement as this might 
be expected to lay a foundation for friendftiip, espe- 
cially as the French nation, with whatever view 
(which it does not behove any Hate to fcrutinize very 
narrowly) gave you material affiftance in alferting your 
liberties, and then followed your example in afferting 
their own ; changing their monarchical government 
for a republican one. 

The moil opprobious appellation with which thole 
who call themfelves Federalifis reproach us, as a con- 
fequence of our adopting French principles, is that of 
democrats. Democracy, they feem to think, the greateft 
of ail crimes, and the perfons chargeable with it not fit 
to be tolerated in any regular government. But my 
friends, pray coniider what democracy really means. It 
lignifies nothing more than the government of the people ^ 
or a conftitution in which the people chufe all their 
magiftrates, and in which the magiftrates are accounta- 
ble to the people, or their reprefentatives, for their con- 
duel in office, which is exactly the conftitution of this 
country. Every man, therefore, who is not a demo- 
crat, is an enemy to this conftitution. What ftrange 
and arbitrary meanings our enemies may annex to this 
word I cannot tell, nor dp I believe they know them- 
felves ; but I have not met with any democrat who 
ufed the word in any other fenfe than that which I have 
now given to it. 

* In the lad conftitution of France the executive power Is lodged 
in one hand, fo that it more nearly refembles that of thofe States, 

c 



lo 



To the Inhabitants 



Our enemies will tell you that by democracy we 
mean a ftate of anarchy and confulion, a government 
by mobs, and an equalization of all property. But 
can any of you really believe that a perfon of my Small 
property would wifh for fuch a ftate as this, or that a 
perfon of my age would like to fcramble among the 
ftrongeft of you for what I could get ? If that was to 
be the cafe, I mould expect to be very foon turned out 
of my houfe, and left to ftarve among you. If you 
can be made to believe this of us, you are eafily impof- 
ed upon indeed, and might be made to fear left the Iky 
ihouid fall, that fire might be fet to your river, or that 
an army of French canibals might crofs the Atlantic in 
a fleet of balloons, land on the blue mountain,- and eat 
up all your children for their Srft breafcfaft. For thefe 
are not more improbable thai] the other. 

As by democracy we mean a government of the 
people ', and not of the #z#J>, fo by equality we mean an 
equality of rights, and of power both to acquire pro- 
perty, and to keep it ; the equality that actually ex- 
i'fts in this country. This has been explained fo often 
that our enemies muft know it to be our whole mean- 
ing. 

You are angry at the French for their captures of 
your iliips, as you were before at the Englifh on the 
fame account, and I believe you had reafon in both 
cafes. But do not lay the blame on French or Englifh 
principles, but on the adminiftration of the countries. 
The French themfelves are far from approving of the 
conduct of all their rulers, and ftill lefs of all that are 
employed by them. Why then muft I be fuppofed to 
approve of all the attrocities of Robefpierre, with 
which I am continually charged, merely becaufe I am 
an adopted citizen of France ? I condemn them as 
much as you can do, and hope they will not occur a- 
gain. I find, however, that, in the opinion of fome, 
I muft bear the blame of all that has been done in 
France, e ven fmce I have had no communication with 



Of Northumberland EsjV. 



IX 



that country, or knowledge of what paries in it 5 and 
perhaps of all the crimes that may be committed there 
after I am dead. 

But they who are the loudeft in their exclamation 
againft French principles, appear to me to know no- 
thing of any principles of government. For it is 
impoffible to reprobate the general principles of the 
French government, and not include thofe of the 
American government in the fame cenfure. It may, 
therefore, be Tairly prefumed that they are diffatified 
with this government, and wifli to overturn it, This 
would give me the greatefl concern. I came hither 
from the preference I gave to it ; and any material 
change in it would certainly, old as I am , drive me 
away again. With your immortal Franklin, I fay 
Where liberty is, there is my country. Of the American 
constitution, I therefore fay, Efto perpetua. 

I am, &c. 



LETTER III. 



Of my Right to treat of Subjecls of civil Policy, and the 
Advantages I have had for acquiring Knowledge of this 
Kind. 

My Friends and Neighbours, 

HAVING confidered what is objected to me on ac- 
count of what I am, I proceed to what I have done; 
and indeed this is of much more importance than the. 



12 



To the Inhabitants 



other. For what does it llgnify what a man is, or 
what character he fuftains, if he do nothing in con- 
ference of it? But it is urged againft me that I 
have not been an idle fpeclator of what is palling ; 
for that I actually bufy myfelf in the politics or the 
country, and with thefe it is faid I have nothing to 
.do. 

before I inform you what I have done, or what I 
have not done, give me leave to obferve that, though 
I am an alien, I cannot allow that I have no right to 
have an opinion with refpect to the government of 
the country in which I live, or to exprefs my opinion, 
in words or in writing, if I be fo difpofed. 

Can any man, whofe perfon and property are in 
any country, be wholly unconcerned about the con- 
duct of its affairs ? Though a man may be a mere 
pajfenger in a fhip, mufi he be content to fee it fuffer, 
or link, and not give his opinion how it might be 
faved, becaufe he is not the owner, the captain, or 
any officer on board acting under him. I have heard, 
indeed, of a man who when he was alarmed with 
the cry of fire in the houfe in which he was fleeping, 
faid tc what is that to me, I am only a lodger.'' But 
his conduct is not generally thought worthy of imita- 
tion. 

"When Dean Swift, who was an Englishman re- 
nding in Ireland, wrote about the politics of that 
country, and by his Drapier's Letters prevented the 
circulation of Wood's halfpence, was there any com- 
plaint of his interference on account of his being a 
foreigner ? And had t done any thing pleating to thofe 
who now complain of my conduct, their complaints 
would not have been heard. Do the fame perfon s 
complain of the writings of Peter Porcupine; who, 
as an alien, (lands in the fame predicament with my- 
felf? Had I, like him written any thing in praife of 
the meafures of adminiftration, I might have done it 
without any cenfure, as well as he. 



Of "Northumberland, Effr. 



On the principles of my accufers, had I di (covered 
a certain method of preventing ©r curing the yellow- 
fever, or of deftroying the Heffian fly, I mult not 
have divulged it becaufe I am an alien. But if I be at 
liberty to do good, it muft be what I myfeif deem to 
be good, and in my own way alfo, and with refpecl 
to all fubjects indiscriminately, that of politics not 
excepted. Another perfon muft not think, judge or 
aft, for me. 

If I had nothing at flake in the country (and I 
have much more than thoufands of native Ameri- 
cans^ is it poflible for a man to fee any company, in 
which, from the prefent interefting ftate of public af* 
fairs, there is hardly any other topic of converfation 
than politics* or read your newfpapers, in w T hich to- 
pics of this kind are continually difcuiTed, and form 
no opinion about them ? And if he have an opinion, 
can he forbear to let his acquaintance know what that 
opinion is, when perhaps they are inqui/itive, and 
wifh to know it ? 

I have another apology to make for the conducl 
that is objected to me. Having never had much ca- 
pacity for the more aclive purfuits of life, I had from 
very early years a turn for /peculation on every fubjeft 
that has come before me ; and they have been very 
various, as my writings will {hew. Among them pe- 
litics, in fuch a country as England, could not be ex- 
cluded, any more than religion, or philofophy. And 
being now old, and of courfe lefs active, I am more 
difpofed to think, and having more experience, i 
prefume I am rather better qualified for it than ever. 
Have the candour, therefore, to bear with my think- 
ing, and with my talking, and writing coo, as you 
do with refpecl to other old men, though you fhould 
be of opinion that what I think, fpeak, or write, is 
not fo much to the purpofe as you could wifh it to 
be. 



14 



To the Inhabitants 



As I own I am fometimes difpofed to think, and 
to fpeak on the fubjecl: of politics, as well as on other 
topics, you muft excufe my vanity, if I imagine that 
I am in fome meafure not unqualified for it. At leaft 
I have, in the courfe of a very various life, had the 
means of acquiring fome political knowledge. 

i was feven years in the family of the Marquis of 
Lanfdown which was altogether a political houfe, 
where I daily faw, and converfed with, the firft poli- 
ticians not only of England, but from all parts of Eu- 
rope. And, independent of that connexion, I have 
had more or lets intercourfe with moft of the political 
living characters whofe names you have heard men- 
tioned, and with many that you have not heard of. 
Eeiides the principal politicians of England, both in 
and out of the mimicry, I was perfonaliy acquainted 
with fome of the moft eminent in France, both be- 
fore and fince the revolution : as Mr, Turgor, Mr. 
Neckar, Mr. Briifot, Mr. Pechion, and the Due de 
Rochfocault, who was my conftant correfpondent 
from the time that I was in France to that of his un- 
fortunate death. 

I am fenfible that what I am now faying will have 
the air of boafting. But if, as Solomon fays, there be 
a time for all things , my prefent fituation may juftify 
it me, as a flmilar one did in the apoftle Paul. 

Though my writings, as you may fee by the cata- 
logue of them, relate chiefly to theology, philofophy, 
or general literature, fome of them are political, espe- 
cially my Effay on the firji -principles of government, and 
my Leisures on Rift or y and General policy, which are 
read in fome of your colleges. As welifor the compo- 
fition of this work, as to enlarge my knowledge of 
the fubjecl, there are few political publications of much 
note that I have not read, and with feveral of the 
later and the mod eminent writers on fubje&s of 
policy I was perfonaliy. acquainted, as the Abbe Ray- 
rial, and Dr. Adam Smith, the author of thecelebra- 



Of Northumberland, &fV. 



*5 



ted treatife on the wealth of nations* If, therefore, I 
have no knowledge of the fubject of politics, it has 
not been for want of the means, or the opportunity, 
of acquiring it. 

I Ihould hardly have been thought of as a proper 
perfon for a member of the conventional affembly of 
France, chofen in what is reckoned the beft times of 
their revolution, for the exprefs purpofe of forming a 
new conftitution of government for that country, if 
I had not had fome character for knowledge of this 
kind. My knowledge of theology, or chemifiry, 
would not have recommended me to that fituation. 

Your Prefident, with whom I was well acquainted 
when he was ambaffador in England, and with whom 
I occalionally correfponded from that time till he was 
advanced to his prefent fituation, will excufe me if on 
this occafion I quote his authority. Having in one of 
mypublications declared my preference of one of hispo- 
litical maxims to that which was maintained by Dr. 
Franklin, he fays in one of his letters, that he confi- 
ders it as cc a compliment which he holds very pre- 
" cious." With Dr. Franklin, who was as much a po- 
litical as a philofophical character, I was intimately 
acquainted many years. His letters to me would 
have made a very large volume. Three of them he 
has publifhed in his mifcellaneous works. 

Notwithftanding thefe advantages which I have 
had for political information, and the obfervation and 
experience of a long life, many of the young men of 
this country, being native Americans, think themfelves, 
I doubt not, much wifer than I pretend to be, and 
will make very light of any opinions of mine. Be it 
fo. It is in the order of Providence that fucceeding 
generations mould grow wifer than the preceding 
ones ; and if the youngefl of the native Americans 
will teach me any thing, I (hall not think myfelf too 
old to learn. 



16 



To the Inhabitants 



The great principles of found policy are not, in my 
opinion, above the compreheniion of young men, 
and even fuch as have not had the advantage of a 
learned education. The circumftances that contribute 
to the flourifhing ftate of a country, which is the 
proper object of all civil policy, are eafily known, and 
the operation of them in all particular cafes would be 
as eafily under ft ood, did not prejudice and paffion 
miflead men's judgments. But in confequence of 
this, the fchemes of foxne of the moil profound po- 
liticians have brought nations to the very brink of 
ruin. What is it that has been effected by the great 
politicians of Europe in the laft century, befides in- 
volving their refpective countries in a ftate of perpe- 
tual war ? When has peace been made, but when the 
people were fo exhaufted that war could not have 
been carried on any longer ? And in confequence of 
thefe violent exertions, are they not all loaded with 
debts which neither the prefent nor any future gene- 
ration will ever be able to pay, and which muft 
haften the period of bankruptcy, and revolution, which 
they fo much dread. Can you contemplate all this 
and call it wifdo?n? 

Since, how€ver, the fubject of politics has not in 
itfelf any greater difficulty attending it than even 
young men may furmount; and iinceit is chiefly paj/ion 
that miileads men's judgments with refpeft to it, it is 
furely the lefs prefumption in old men, whofe paf- 
iions are generally more under the command of reafon 
than thole of young men, to think and write upon 
it. 



I am, &c. 



'Northumberland, &c. 



LETTER IV. 

Of what I have done with Refpecl to the Politics of thh 

Country, 

My Friends and Neighbours*, 

THOUGH I have not been prevented by any pe* 
culiar difficulty that there is in the mbjecl of Politics, 
or by the fuppofed impropriety of an alien attending to 
it, from taidng a part in your political differences, I 
have had other views and purfuits ; and having had 
much leifure in this country, I have done fo much in 
other ways, that I think I can convince you that I 
have not been that bufy, intriguing, and dangerous 
politician, that I am reprefented to have been. 

Of my publications in England, which I believe 
are about an hundred, very few relate to politics* 
My publications in this country are not lefs than 
twelve , all theological or philofophical, befides three 
articles in the Tranfaclions of the Society of Philadel- 
phia , and eleven that are printed in the Medical Repo- 
sitory at New-York; three more are fent^ but are not 
yet printed \ and I have four or five articles ready to 
fend to the Society at Philadelphia.* 

Befides thefe works, I have juft printed in this 
place a large volume intitled a Comparifon of the Infti- 
tutions of Mofes with thofe of the Hindos and other ancient 

* In philofophy I am combating the principles of the French 
Cbernifiry j and as every thing that is French is now unpopular, 
the Federalifts may be expe&ed to wifh me fuccefs. Of. this, 
however, T am as confident as the allied powers are that they 
ihall conquer France, and overturn its republican Government, 
tho* at prefent alrnoft all chemifts in this country, as well as irt 
Europe* arc itrcngly attached to it. 



To the Inhabitants 



nations. I have compofed a Continuation of my Church 
hijlory to the prefent time, which will make fix volumes 
3vo, and about as many of Notes on the Old and JS'ezu 
Tejiament, part indeed compofed in England, but de- 
ilroyed at the riots in Birmingham, and recompofed 
here. You will pleafe to obferve that in merely writ- 
ing much, there is no other merit than that of induftry, 
a quality which I believe my greatefl enemies will 
allow me. 

The* I have written fo much iince I have redded in 
this place, I generally fpend the greatefl part of my 
time in my laboratory, making experiments, the object 
of which is not gain, but the exteniion of natural 
knowledge» Judge then yourfelves whether it has 
been pojjible for me to have given much attention to 
the peculiar politics of this country. 

It is true, as I have obferved, that I could not help 
forming fome opinion on fubjects that are continually 
before me \ and I will not deny that it accords 
better with my former principles and habits of think- 
ing to take part with thofe who difapprove of the late 
meafures of your government* and are generally called 
Democrats., than with thofe who call themfelves 
Federalifts, whofe language and fentiments appear to 
me to be very congenial to thofe of the friends ox 
monarchy, and high maxims of government, in Eng- 
land. My political opinions, however, I have not been 
forward to obtrude on others ; and if the private o- 
pinions of one man, and that an alien, can ihake any 
country, it cannot Hand long. 

I do not know, nor have I anv*eafon to believe, 
that any one of you has changed his opinion in politics 
in confequence of my refidence among you. Whate- 
ver be your feniiments in this refpect, they are wholly 
independent of me. You alfo well know, that my 
opinions have had no more influence on any of my 
countrymen in this place than they have had on your- 
felves % 



'Of Northumberland^ &c, 



19 



Tho' what I have done in theology and phiiofophy 
may feem fufficient to have occupied me wholly, J 
will now gratify my enemies by informing them, that 
notwithstanding this, I have actually found time both 
to fay and to do fomething with refpect to the politics 
of the day, and fomething which without my own 
voluntary confeflion, they could not have found out. 
In the Aurora, that recepticle, as it is confidered, 
for all feditious and treafonable matter,* for Feb. 26 
and 27, 1788, there is an article of mine, which will 
be thought to be of a fufpicious complexion, ligned 
a Quaker in Politics- ^But to fave them the trouble of 
looking for it, I fhall reprint the whole of it at the end 
of thefe Letters. This, however, is all that I have 
written till the prefent time. 

But tho' I have written nothing more than this 
fingle article myfelf ; yet approving of Mr. Cooper's ef* 
fays in -your Gazettee, I contributed one dollar to- 
wards printing a few extra copies of one of them, be- 
fore it was known that they would all be reprinted in the 
form of a pamphlet. However, to make amends for 
this fault, and to fhew my impartiality, and my de- 
fire to promote the free difcuffion of fubjecls of im - 
portance to the community, I here promife that if any 
Federalift will give as comprehenfive and as difpaffion- 
ate a view of what they have to advance in fupport of 
the late meafures, as Mr. Cooper has done again ft 
them, I will give another dollar towards that publica- 
tion. I fear, however, it will not be in the power of 

* Tho* I fee almolt all the newfpapers that are printed in Phil- 
adelphia, it is to this that I give the preference. In England 
I was a reader of the Morning Chronicle, which was then patron- 
ized by the friends of liberty in that country ; but I do not think 
that, in its bell times, it was fuperior to the Aurora with refpedl 
to juft fentirnent, valuble information, or good cornpofition. The 
Federaliits of this country, who feldom, I believe read this paper, 
muft be ignorant of many things that it behoves them to know. 
Having faidt his, I muft expect to be made anfwerable for every thing 
that ever has been, or ever will be printed in the Aurora. 



To Inhabitants 



Mr. Cooper's antagonift to fulfil the conditions on 
which I make this promife. Perfons writing in fup- 
port of any government, being fure of protection, if 
not of reward, are apt to indulge themfelves in. intem- 
perate language, as a mark of their zeal in the caufe ; 
while the dread of penal laws naturally makes the 
oppugner of them timid, and confequently more 
guarded and decent in his language ; mindful of the 
Latin adage, leniier in modo^ farther in re. 

The writer who ftiles himfelf Majfachutenfts^ gives 
me more merit than I am entitled to with refpecT: to 
Mr. Cooper's publication, when he fays that " I took 
" great pains to circulate it, that 1 travelled thro' the 
cc country for the purpofe, and that I was, in facl, 
" the patron of it." The fact was, that I never faw 
any of the papers till after their publication, and ajl 
that I did with refpecl to the circulation of the extra 
copies was to carry a bundle of them from the prin* 
ter's to the houfe of a brother democrat in this town, 
which might as well have been done by the printer's 
boy. 

I do not, however, fay this to exculpate myfelf 
from any crime. For I conlider both the writing of 
the letters in queftion ? and the circulation of them, as 
praife worthy actions. MaiTachutenfis calls Mr. Coop- 
er an Englijh Jacobin, but this is merely a term of re- 
proach. The principles that Mr. Cooper has main- 
tained are clearly thofe of the American Conftitution. 
|W hoever denies' this, either does not underfland'thofe 
principles, oris an enemy to them ; and as the fubjecr. 
is fufficjetitly intelligible, the latter is the more proba- 
ble iijpftpiition of the two. 

' l ij e paragraphs which this writer felecls, as parti- 
cularly obnoxious, I entirely approve. For certainly 
• • :>n who fhould wilh to extend the power of the 
ftcfent of ibis country beyond the bounds prefcrib- 
fed y Lne con iiitution, could not take better Heps to 



Of Northumberland, &c. 



21 



* gain his ends than thofe that are pointed out by Mr. 
Cooper. At the fame time, it is not denied, nor does 
Mr/ Cooper deny it, that the fame things might be 
done from other motives. But, as he obferves, we 
have nothing to do with men's motives, but only with 
the tendency of their mea fares ; and of this we mud 
form our judgment from confidering their nature, 
and the circumftances of the cafe. 

For what I did in this bufmefs MafTachutenfls, who 
coniidcrs it as a crime of a peculiarly heinous nature, 
fays " I (land charged before the great tribunal of the 
" American people !" I do not, however, conrider 
an anonymous writer in a newfpaper as the American 
people. But whenever this people, whom I refpect, 
fhall arraign any part of my conduct by their autho- 
rized officers, in due form, I mall be ready to meet 
the accufation. In the mean time, thefe Letters may 
be mfficient. 

That 1 may leave nothing on my conference relating 
to this fubjeciof what I have done, I will farther confefs 
that, averfe as I generally am to public meetings, which 
are often attended with much noife, to which, from 
the habits of a fludious life, I am much averfe, I was 
prevailed upon to join in two celebrations of the 4th 
of July, one of them two years ago, in a grove near 
this town, and this year in another near Sunbury, at 
both of- which republican or democratical toafts were 
drank, and where the late meafures of adminiftration 
were not praifed. 

If I could think that it would avail me any thing, 
I might perhaps plead that, if I have done mifchief in 
fome refpeefs, I have done good in others. But with 
thofe who have no knowledge beyond that of the po- 
litics of the day, and a very fuperficial knowledge even 
of them, pounds of merit of any other kind would be 
outweighed by grains of political, or rather of party 
demerit. Let a man who is fufpe£ted of what any 
party terms fedition deferve ever fo well of his country, 



22 



To' the Inhabitants 



or of mankind at large, in other refpects, no more 
mercy would be (hewn him on that account, than was 
fhewn by Robefpierre in France. Had I made dif- 
coveries in fcience equal to thofe of Newton, or had 
had the philanthropy of Howard, they would not have 
exempted me from the coarfeft abufe that the Englifh 
language can furnifli. A detected thief or a fraudu- 
lent forger of bank bills, would have met with more 
favour than has been fhewn to me. 

1 do not recollect any thing more that I have done 
with refpeft to the politics of this country iince I have 
come into it, except writing a reply to a virulent cen- 
fure of me for holding a correfpondence with a friend 
in France on occafion of a letter to me intercepted and 
pubiiihed with notes in England, and republilhed with 
additional and more virulent remarks in this country. 
This reply I pubiiihed in feveral of your newfpapers, 
and I believe it gave general fat is faction. I mall, 
therefore, foon proceed to inform you what I really 
think of the political ftate of this country, and I fhali 
do it with perfect freedom, but with that cooinefs 
which I hope is habitual to me. I only wifh that what 
I write may be read with the fame temper. But 
before I do this I (hall in my next make fome farther 
observations concerning the intercepted Letters^ abu- 
Ji've writings in general, and thofe which refpect myfeif 
In particular. 



I am, &c 9 



Of Northumberland j £sf*. 



5 3 



LETTER V. 
Of the intercepted Letters, and of the French Revolution. 
My Friends and Neighbours. 

A GREAT ctamour was made fome time ago about 
the intercepted letters mentioned in mylaft. It was 
on that occafion that I wrote the mbftance of thefe 
Letters ; but being unwilling, without more urgent 
caufe, to appear as a political writer, I withheld them 
from the prefs, and contented myfelf with writing 
a fhort advertiiement, merely in anfwer to a charge of 
being a fpy in the intereft of France. 

To decline all particular difcuflions, I then obferved, 
that I was not anfwerable for what any perfon might 
think proper to write to me, But this bufinefs being 
again brought before the public, I will freely acknow- 
ledge that my friend's letter gave me great pleafure ; 
and the like I have received from others before and 
fmce that time, written by the fame hand, and in the 
fame fpirit, tho' no two men think exactly alike, or 
would exprefs themfelves in exa&iy the fame manner. 
Mr, Stone, being a younger man, will naturally be 
more f anguine, and write with more warmth than I 
fhouid be difpofed to do. But my friends, read the 
intercepted letters without regarding the notes that ac- 
companied the publication, and then fay what there 
is in them that can give juft offence to any American*' 

Mr. Stone is a perfon who, together with myfelf, 
€arneftly wifhed for a reformation of abufes in the En- 
glim government, in order to prevent an entire revo- 
lution, which we did not think was wanted there. 
He now fees, or thinks he fees, that no fuch refor- 
mation is to be expected : and therefore wifhes a 



24 



To the Inhabitants 



revolution to take place, thinking it to be abfolutely 
neceflary for the good of the people. I own that I am 
now inclined to his opinion. I lincerely wifh (if the 
genuine fpirit of the original conftitution connot be 
revived, which would no doubt be ftill the beft for 
that country): for fome more radical change than I 
have hitherto thought neceflary, tho* I with it may 
be effected peaceably, and without the interference of 
any foreign power. 

Tho' during the American war it was voted, in 
the houfe of Commons, that "the power of the 
" crown had increafed, was increafing, and ought to 
" be diminifhed it is evident that, fo far from be- 
ing diminifhed, it has kept increafing fince that time; 
and how far it may go it is irnpofiibie to fay. The 
forms of the Britifh conftitution are fo far from being 
anyjreal check on the power of the crown, as in the- 
ory they ought to be, that they are the mod conve- 
nient inftruments of it 5 the court, as is well known, 
always commanding a majority in the houfe of Com- 
mon, and being equally fure of the fupport cf the 
Lords in all their meafures. 

Seeing that, for want, as I conceive, of a due 
reprefentation of the people, a refpectable clais of En- 
glim citizens are frowned upon, and their fituation 
uncomfortable, and hardly fafe, I fmcerely wifh them 
relieved. My correfpondent does the fame, and 
moreover exprefles his fatisfaction in the progrefs that 
the revolutionary fpirit is making in other parts of Eu- 
rope, where it is ftill more wanted. Now, pray, 
what offence can this juilly give in America, where a 
fimilar revolution has actually taken place, and where 
the great benefits of it are every day experienced f 
Why ihould you take umbrage at other countries fol- 
lowing the example that you have fet them ? 

Shocked at the enormities which have been com- 
mitted in France, and which no perfons lament lb 
much as the friends of liberty in every country, it 



Of Northumberland^ &c. 



5 



has become fafhionable with many to exclaim again ft 
all revolutions indifcriminately, and all the principles 
that lead to them ; and in the Englim parliament a 
wifh has been openly expreffed for the Federation of 
the ancient government, and the ancient religion, of 
France. But, furely, they who hold this language 
muft either be avowed advocates of arbitrary power, 
or have forgotten the (late of France before the lafc 

o 

revolution. 

No writer whatever expreffes a greater dread of every 
thing tending to revolution than Mr. Robinfon, pro- 
feflbr of Natural Philofophy in the uriiverfity of Edin- 
burgh, in his book entitled Proofs of a confpiracy againfi 
all the religions and governments of Europe^ in which he 
makes me one of thofe confpirators. But even this 
writer could not help acknowledging the exiftence of 
fuch abufes in the government of France as were ab- 
folutely infupportable, and fuch as would abundantly 
juitify the fubjects of it in attempting its fubveifion. 
It may not be amiis to bring before you a part of what 
this writer fays on the fubjeft. 

After enumerating all the caufes of corruption in 
government, he fays p. 48 "Perhaps there never was 
" a nation where all thefe co-operating caufes had ac- 
u quired greater ftrength than in France, Opprefli- 
" ons of all kinds were at their height. The luxuries 
ci of life were enjoyed exckifively by the upper claffes, 
" and this in the higheft degree of refinement \ fq that 
" the defires of the reft were whetted to the utmoft. , 
" Religion appeared in its worft form, and feemed 
Ci calculated folely for procuring eftabliftiments for the 
" younger fons of an infolent and ufelefs nobleffe. 
" The morals of the higher orders of the clergy and 
" of the laity were equally corrupt. — -The whole na* 
££ tion became infidel— The mifeonducl of adminiftra- 
Ci tion, and the abufes of the public treaiure, were 
t; every day growing more impudent and glaring, 
C5 &c. &c. In fa<5t the. kins; of France was an abfo- 

t 



25 



To the Inhabitants 



" lute monarch, and the fubje&s were flaves." p. 264. 

u There is no denying the infolence and oppreffion 
u of the crown, and of the nobles, nor the mifery 
" and flavery of the people ; nor that there was fuffi- 
" cient provocation for a total change of meafures 
" and of principles." p. 301. And is not this the 
very thing that the French nation, now fo much exe- 
crated, have done ? For what, then, are they to be 
fo much condemned ? 

You will obferve, however, that this writer af- 
cribes the revolution in France, in a great meafure, 
to the example fet by this country, to which it is fuffi- 
cientiy evident from his manner of expreffing hixnfelf, 
that he is no friend. " Their officers and foldiers, 
<c who returned from America," he fays, " imported 
c 2 American principles and in every company found 
* c hearers who liitened with delight and regret to the 
?? fafcinatingtale of American independence." p. 263. 

Be allured that the enemies of the French revolution 
are in reality no lefs the enemies of the American, as 
they both arofe from the fame principles. The imme- 
diate fbimuius was oppreffion, which was unfpeakably 
greater in France than it was in this country. And 
if ever monarchy be firmly eftabliftied in France, the 
liberty and independence of America will be in immi- 
nent danger. But I have no fear on the fubjecfc, I 
rejoice in both revolutions alike*. 

If you read any authentic account of the (late of 

* From the commencement of the American war I wifhed for the 
independence of this country, being firmly perfuadcd that it would 
be for the real advantage of England, as well as of thefe States, and 
this is now, J believe, aimoft univerfally acknowledged to be the cafe. 
I am equally well perfuaded that it would be for the benefit of the 
people of England (I do not fay for the glory of the monarch) to have 
nothing to do with the dominion of the Eaft or the Weft Indies. I 
once mentioned this opinion to Sir George Saviie, adding, that it 
would have been much better for England never to have had the pof- 
felfion of Gibraltar, and that it would be good policy to give it up. Be 
faid that he had often thought fotoo, but that the opinion was fo un - 
popular that he had not dared to avow it, . t 



Of Northumberland, &c. 



the other European kingdoms (I except, however, 
Denmark and Sweden) you will be fatisfied that the 
abufes of government, and the oppreilion of the peo- 
ple, are got to an extreme. Germany has long groan- 
ed under the oppreffion of a haughty nobility, and 
there have been frequent rill rigs of the peafants to bet- 
ter their condition. In the time of Luther more than 
a hundred thoufand had recourfe to arms in Swabia ; 
but wanting good leaders, and ill provided with ftores 
and ammunition, they were fooh mppreffed. Both 
Spain and Naples, which are held by the fame family, 
have not one half of their ancient inhabitants ; and 
there cannot be a more certain proof of bad govern- 
ment than this. Their condition is little, if at all 
better than that of the Turkifli dominions. Portugal, 
is in much the fame ftate. 

The late Lord Chatham was fond of foreign poffsffions. He was 
much againft granting abfolute independence to America, which he 
faid was the faireft jewel in the crown of the Britifh monarch, and 
his opinion had for fame time great weight with the marquis of Landf- 
down, then Lord Shelburne. On this Dr. Price, who thought as I 
did on the fubjecT:, agreed with me to write our thoughts feparately 
on the fubjeft, and prefent them to his Lordhhip. We did fo, and 
fome time after he told me that he had Ihewn my letter to Lord Chat- 
ham, but that he was much offended at it. At the conclusion of the war* 
however, the Marquis made no difficulty of granting what bethought 
hot only necelfary, but advantageous to his country, of which he was 
then prime minifter. Had he continued fo to this day, his liberal and 
enlightened policy would have faved England, and all Europe, the 
horrors of the prefent mod ruinous and impolitic war. 

Tho' t did not accept of a feat in the conventional afTembly of 
France, I had at that time a correfpondence with fome of the leading 
men of that country ; and believing that my opinion would have fome 
weight, I advifed the abandoning the Well Indies, and all their fo- 
reign poffeffions. The anfwer I received was, that they thought as 1 
did on the fubje£t, but that the intereft of thofe who were poffeffed of 
property in the iflands, would prevent their doing it for the pre- 
fent. This correfpondence was continued till the death of the king^ 
againft which I gave my advice ; but a concurrence of cireumftances, 
the principal of which was the influence ®f the queen, was fatai to that 
Well meaning man. Of what paffei in France after that event I had 
no information but from nevvfpapers. Butit feems I muit, notwitb* 
fending this, be aafwmble for it all. 



28 



1o the Inhabitants 



Can ? then, any perfon, any friend of liberty and 
humanity, himfelf enjoying the bieffings of a repub- 
lican government, wim that any part of his fpecies 
fhould continue in this {late of degradation and bon- 
dage ? If not, he muft partake in the generous feel- 
ings of my correfpondent, and earneftly wiili for 
their emancipation. And we may hope that, with 
the examples of America and France before them, 
other revolutions may be attended -with lefs blood- 
Hied than thofe have been, 

The revolution of France would, it cannot be 
doubted, have continued to be as peaceable through- 
out, as it was at its outfet*, if the king had been 
content with the limited power of which the fird 
conftitution left him poiTeiTed ; and had not this un- 
fortunate prince been flimulated by others, more 
ambitious than himfelf, to recover the power that 
he had loft, the war, and the confequent enormities, 
had not taken place. To thofe princes, therefore, 
and their wicked confederacy, are all the enormities 
to be afcribed. 

But it appears to have been the intention of Pro- 
vidence to do more for the French nation, and ulti- 
mately for all Europe, than they ever thought of do- 
ing for themfelves, though by means which men 
would not bejuftified in having recourfe to. The na- 
tional affembly, and the people of France, meant 
nothing more than to limit the power of the crown ; 
but God has given them a government purely repub- 
lican, and reprefentative, like that of America, with- 
out any hereditary powers or honours ; and the fame 
benefit, I doubt not, with my correfpondent, is in- 

* At the time of the firft conftitution, when France was a limited 
monarchy, thofe who took the lead in that country would, to my own 
knowledge, have given almoft any thing for the friendihip and con- 
currence of England, as, in their opinion, that would have enfured 
the peace of France, and of all Europe. 



Of Northumberland, iffc. 29 

tended for all thofe countries whofe kings are at pre- 
fent confederated again ft France and universal liberty.' 

If every thing that is true and right will finally pre- 
vail, againft whatever is error and wrong, the caufe of 
monarchy, always tending to defpotifrri, cannot be 
fupported much longer. Independently of wars, 
which mud accelerate the great cataftrophe, they all 
contain within themfelves the feeds of their own de- 
ftrudlion. The people acquiring knowledge every 
day, will not much longer bear what they have done. 
Nor is it difficult to forefee that the infatuation of the 
prefent race of kings, which is remarkably ftrnilar to 
that of Pharaoh, will bring on their deftruclion in 
the manner predicted in the 1 fcriptures, viz. with 
violence, and much confequent general calamity. 

I {hall on this occafion obfervc, that it is a ma- 
nifeft error with refpecl to true policy in thofe who 
wifh to difarm feditious publications of their fting, to 
publim themfelves, as they fometimes do, what appears 
to them mod obnoxious in them ; thinking to ex- 
pofe them, and to render the authors odious; not 
confidering to whom they will appear in that light. 
For while they are read with diflike, and even horror, 
by feme, they may be read with admiration by others. 
The intercepted Letters, and the paragraphs felecled 
from Mr. Cooper's Addrefs are cafes in point, as well as 
feveral other articles which have been inferred in the 
Federal Newfpapers of this country. The friends of 
liberty rejoice to fee fuch publications through any 
channel, and efpecialjy when it is done at no rilk to 
themfelves; and without regarding the comments, they 
attend to the text. 

The lame wretched politicians alio do not coniider 
the natural tendency and effect of the abnfe that they 
throw out againft the friends of liberty and the rights 
of man. If it have any effect, which is very queftion- 
able, it only makes us Hand fomething worfe w T ith 
thofe with whom it is no object to us to itand well 



To the Inhabitants 



at all, while it recommends us to all thofe whofe good 
opinion and attachment we really value. What is it 
to me to be thought ill of by the friends of Church and 
king (with the cry of which my houfe was burned) in 
England, or by Mr. Cobbet and his readers in this 
country? My account with them has been long fettled. 
I am already a bankrupt in their efteem, and no new 
article in the account can alter the balance for or 
againft me. My part is taken, and my reputation, as 
far as it is an object with me, is with men of oppofite 
principles, thofe who are opprobrioufly called demo- 
crats, jacobins, and every thing elfe of the kind ; and 
to thefe, and efpecially thofe of that clafs in France, 
this abufe tends to recommend me. 



I am, he, 



LETTER VI. 

Of the Style of Abufe in the writings of Mr, Cobbet , alias 
Peter Porcupine, 

My Friends and Neighbours, 

XT is commonly faid that when much dirt is thrown? 
fome will ftick ; and on this principle I fuppofe it is that 
I have been diftinguxfhed fo often by my principal an- 
tagoniil Mr. Cobbet, under the fignature of Peter 
Porcupine. But he appears to me to have fpoiled his 
part by overacting it. For men may be fo covered 
with dirt that it mail not be known who they are, 



Of Northumberland, EsV. 



3i 



nor will they be difHnguilhed from one another, like 
Virgil's complimentary epithets, fortifque Gyas fortifque 
Cloanthus. Beddes, fuch coarfc abufe as is implied in 
the words villain, rafcal,fcoundr el, &c. &c. with which 
his writings abound, only marks the low education, 
and the low character and manners, of the man that 
ufes them. Such language is never ufed by gentle- 
men, or fcholars, nor can they return it, though it 
were ever fo well merited ; not to fay that a Chriftiari 
muft not return railing for railing. (1. Pet. 3. 9.) 
With refpecl to them, therefore it is an unfair weapon. 
It is like throwing ftreet dirt, which they cannot 
handle. 

It was a thing of courfe that I mould be the object 
of calumny ever lince I wrote in defence of unpopu- 
lar truths, and unpopular maxims. Indeed, I ques- 
tion whether any perfon in England (the prime mi- 
nifter for the time being excepted) ever had fo much 
of what is generally termed abufe, as myfelf. It has 
been pouring out with very little intermiflion for 
more than twenty years, and is continued, I find, 
in my abfence. My friends, however, fay that it 
certainly agrees with me. For tho ? I was originally 
of a weak conllitution, my health has been improving 
ever iince, and I never was fo well as I have been 
lince my arrival in this place, except about three 
months after my landing, which was before Mr. 
Cobbet took notice of me. They now fay that, old. 
as I am, I bid fair to outlive fome of my younger 
opponents. That farcaflic writings mould have this 
falutary effecl, will not be thought fo extraordinary, 
when it is confidered that pepper, muftard, fait, 
and vinegar, have their ufe in a good dinner, as well 
as the beef and the pudding. They certainly contri- 
bute to a good digeiiion. But there muft be fome pe- 
culiar charm in Mr. Gobbet's writings, operating un« 
feen and unknown, for I do not think I have fee 21 
more than a tenth part of his voluminous publications, 



3 2 



To the Inhabitants 



and in all of them, I doubt not, he has contrived to find 
a nich for me. I am almofc as neceflary to him, and as 
good a fubjecl for him, as the king of England is to Pe- 
ter Pindar. In England, however, where decency 
and good manners are rarely violated, my antago- 
nifts were never of this low clafs. But the laft of the 
animals that had a kick at the old lion in the fable 
was the afs. 

The profusion and variety of Mr. Cobbet's abufe 
argues a peculiar genius of the kind, unequalled by any 
thing that 1 have met with before. In the compafs of 
only three news-papers, and chiefly in one of them, I 
am called "a hoary hypocrite, a malignant old TartufF, 
"a lurking old tllumiriafas, a poor old wretch, a mi- 
serable perverfe old man, a perverfe old hypocrite, 
"and a vindictive, unnatural, hypocritical wretch." 
I am " of a factious difpofttion, an apoftle of fedition, 
"a political viper, with a black rancorous heart, and 
"fmooth tongued whining cart ; a cunning feclary, an 
"ambitious feclary, a baffled Ibcinian, and a Jefuit." 
I am accufed of " falfehood and poifonous malignity, 
"actuated by cool and premeditated malice." I have 
"the craft of a fectary, joined to the hatred and malice 
"of a fiend. My conduct," he fays," has been wick- 
"ed and deteftable, that I wifn Great Britain revoluti- 
onized, and r ained, and indulge a wicked tho' delu- 
live hope of feeing this wifh accompiifhed ; that I 
"never mils an opportunity of endeavouring, to render 
"my countrymen the hate and fcorn of the univerfe, 
"that for' twenty years pad I have, from hatred to my 
" native country, iacrihced my intereft, my peace, 
" and- my reputation, to the pleaiure of injuring, 
" intuiting, and ruining it." In conjunction with others, 
he calls me "a villain and a fcbundrel, * and both 

* I rather wonder that the term ra/calh not apAlied-to me, as it is 
toothers, in this particular paper, as WfiU as villain and fcoundrel. 
Tt isj I doubt not, frequently enough applied to me in other parts of 
his writings. Cat fuch near relations and companions ought not to 
have been Co far feparated 



Of Northumberland, fefc. 



33 



" fool and knave. My bufmefs in this country," he 
fys, " is of a nature moil: hoftile to its happinefs and 
" independence. " It is no wonder, therefore, that he 
treats me, as he fays, " with his unqualified con- 
tempt. " 

His pamphlet on the fubject of my emigration, 
publifhed foon after my arrival, contains the following 
among other falfehoods, ** I had been," he fays, cc for 
" many years an avowed and open enemy to the go- 
" vernment and conflitution of my country ; that in 
Ci my inflammatory difcourfes, called fermons, the Eng- 
" lifh conflitution was openly attacked ; and that the 
" doctrines there held forth were fubverfive of all civil 
" and religious order ;" and in his newfpaper he fays, 
u my conventicle at Hackney was a nioft convenient 
" and fuccefsful fchool of treafon. I entertained," 
he fays, " the hope of bringing about a revolution in 
" England on the French plan, and that I had no ob- 
" jection to the continuance of tythes in England, 
" provided I came in for a mare." 

He fays that tc my public celebration of the French 
" riots and maffacres is a convincing proof of my 
f approving them, and that my fending my fon to 
iC Paris in the midft of them, to re que ft the honour 
" of becoming a French citizen, is another proof of 
" the fame that cannot be difputed ; that i approved 
" of the unmerciful perfecution of the unfortunate 

and worthy part of the French clergy, men as far 
" furpafling me in piety and ability, as in fuffering ; 
^ that the French conflitution is my fvftem, and that 
Cfi fooner than not fee it eilahliihed, he#luch queflions 
" if 1 would not w T ith pleafure fee the -Maffacre of all 
" the human race." But if all mankind were de- 
ll royed where is this conflitution of mine to be efla- 
blifhed ? As he has not told us where, I mufl fuppofe 
that he meant among bears, wolves, or wild beails of 
fome kind or other. 

. With refpecl to the riots in Birmingham, he fays,, 

F 



34 



To the Inhabitants 



s * that ? I was the principal caufe of them ; that the 
6C feftival of the commemoration of the French revo- 
" lution was to celebrate events which were in reality 
" the fubject of the deepeft horror ; that this riot, 
C6 confidered comparatively with what I and my 
" friends wiihed to ftir up, was peace, harmony, and 
sc gentlenefs ; that the magistrates ufed every exertion 
" in their power to quell the riot in its very earliefi 
ci flage \ that had the rioters .{topped at the deftruction 
" of my meeting houfe, all had been well. In what- 
" ever light," he fays, a we view the Birmingham 
" riots, we can fee no object to excite our companion, 
64 except the inhabitants of the hundred, and theun- 
cc fortunate rioters themfelves ; that the lofs of my 
5S manuscripts was little more than a few dirty meets 
« of paper, and their destruction a benefit, rather than 
ci a lofs, both to myfeif and the country ; that my 
" philofophical apparatus was a thing of imaginary 
ci value only, and ought not to be eftimated at its 
" colt, any more than a collection of fhells, or infects, 
" or any other frivola of a virtuofo." 

" In this country," he fays, there is nothing to 
" fear from me except, my diffeminating my deiftical 
" principles." In another place, however, he calls my 
doctrines atheiftkal^ tho' it is impoflible that they can 
be both ; and he fpeaks of " the infidel philofophy of 
Ci Voltaire, Rouffeau, Gibbon, Prieitley, and the reft 
" of that enlightened tribe." To make the group 
complete (for the conjtftency of it is no object with him) 
he mould have added fome diftinguifiied heathens, 
and mahometans as holding the fame opinions. 
" "When I preached in Philadelphia," he fays, " I gave 
" up a mare of the pence which I was able to draw 
ci out of the pockets of my hearers for the liberty of 
" preaching in the church of the Univerfalifts," of 
which he fpeaks with the greateft contempt. 

All this, you will obferve, is mere ajjertioru without 
any evidence whatever ; and therefore my fimple denial 



Of Northumberland, 



35 



(tho' I could bring abundant proof of every thing 
thatlihall fay) may be a fdfficient aniwer. 

Now I can fay with truth that, in the courfe of 
more than forty years, I never preached one fermon 
that any of you would have faid was political ; nor did 
I ever, in anyplace, or in any form, exprefs awilhfor 
any material change in the Englifh conftitution ; and I 
am confident I have a more fincere refpect for my 
native country, and for this too, than Mr. Cobbet has 
for any country. My writings fliew that I was al* 
ways an enemy of all civil eftabliftiments of religion * 
but thought that if there was to be one, it mould be 
of Chriftianity in general, fuch as exifts in the New-Eng- 
land ftates ; and then that the church revenues, what- 
ever they were, mould be given to all the feels alike, 

When I preached at the church of the Univerfaiifts, 
I wiilied to have no collection made after fervice, but 
all that was collected was given to the tninifter of the 
place ; and when I preached in the hall of the univer- 
flty, only one collection was made to defray the ex- 
pences that had been incurred. I was glad of the op- 
portunity of doing what I thought to be good without 
any pecuniary benefit. Whether the difcourfes that I 
delivered were calculated to do any good, thofe who 
read them may judge. 

My fon went to France before the revolution took 
place, and before any fuch thing was expected ; nor 
was any requeft ever made by myfelf, or my friends, 
to be made a French citizen. The fecond time that 
he went was in order to be received into the houfe of a 
merchant at Nantes, from which place, on account of 
the troubles in that neighbourhood, he removed to 
this country. 

When the anniverfary of the French revolution was 
celebrated at Birmingham, the conftitution of France 
was a limited monarchy, very much like that of Eng- 
land, and had been folemnly accepted by the king him- 
felf. Tho' i approved of that celebration^ i neither 



36 



To the Inhabitants 



projected, nor attended it. The magiftrates made no 
ferious attempts to quell the riot, but rather promoted 
it*. Of the amount of my lories on that occafion I 
have nothing to add to what will be found in my Ap- 
peal to the people of England on the fubjecl. In a pecu- 
niary computation it was more than two thoufand 
pounds iefs than the real value. 

This grofs abufe comes from a man with whom I 
never had any intercourfe, whom I never offended, or 
irritated by any reply to his invectives, which have 
never ceafed fmce I have been in the country ; nor 
mould I have noticed them now, but that I find his 
publications have increaflng acceptance and celebrity 
with the friends of thofe who have the chief power in 
this country ; fo that fmce the riot in Birmingham is 
openly approved and praifed by him and his fup- 
porters, a fimilar one may be apprehended here, efpe- 
cially if what Mr. Cobbet fays be true (and I fee no 
reafon to queftion it) that " he has lived to fee the 
" truth of his ilatements, and the juftice of his opini- 
" ons, refpecling me fully and univerfaily acknow- 
" ledged and fmce a fpirit of party runs as high in 
this country as I ever knew it to do in England. If 
you believe one half of what Mr Cobbet fays of me, 
you would be juftined, and applauded, for deftroy- 
ing me, as you would for killing a ferpent or a wild 
bead. 

Having advanced thus much in my vindication, I 
fhall probably bear in fiience (as I have hitherto done 
with refpeci to what is paft) whatever farther abufe I 
may be expofed to. What other terms of reproach 
the Engiifh language can furmili I am ignorant of, 
but I mall expect very foon to find ; if not, that more 
curious changes will be rung on thofe that have been 
fo often ufed already, and efpecially his three favourite 

* I have been very credibly informed that Lady Aylesford, wife of 
the Lord Lieutenant of the county, converiing on the fubjeci of the 
riots, faid " They went farther than we intended." 



Of "Northumberland^ EsV. 



37 



words, rafcal villain and fcoundrel. Thefe have been fo 
much ufed by him, that I imagine his printer rauft 
provide frefh types for the letters of which they con- 
fift. 

If any frefh accufation be advanced, it muft be that 
I was fent hither as a convict, for theft or robbery on 
the high way ; but that, being favoured, I was per- 
mitted to export myfelf to America, rather than be 
fent to my friends and old companions at Botany bay; 
it being thought that there were already dangerous 
perfons enow in that one place. And there will be 
juft as much truth in this, as in any thing that has yet 
been advanced againft me by Mr. Cobpeu* 

As a part of the general plan of that providence 
which overrules all things. 1 am far from complain- 
ing of the treatment I have met with in England, or 
in this country ; efpeciaily as it has aim oft always at- 
tended the greater!: merit, and we cannot expect to 
have any commodity without the tax that is laid upon 
it by the laws of nature. In a fyftem in which infinite 
wifdom and infinite goodnefs are equally apparent, no- 
thing can eventually be wrong : and toads and vipers 
are as neceflary in the fyftem as horfesand deep ; and 
noxious plants as much as wholefome herbs. 

* Mr. Gobbet's fucceffors-have a full portion of his fpirit but with- 
out his ability. I prefer ve fome fpecimens of their writings, efpeciaily 
the Profpeffus of the Gazette of the United States , for the country , in order 
to convince my philofophical friends in Europe, that, contrary to the 
hypothefis of feme of them, European productions, vegetable, animal, 
or intellectual, do not degenerate in this weftern world. At leafi: noth- 
ing of equal party violence and abfurdity ever fell under my obferva- 
tion before. According to this writer, the adminiftration of Mr. Jef- 
ferf&h and Mr. Burr, will be conducted on the principles of Jacobinifm 
which tho'-he does not define, he gives us fufnciently to underlland is a 
complication of all evils natural and moral, fomething worfe than war, 
famine, and peftilence.united. But happily, all thefe things, like moft 
others of a noxious nature, carry their own antidote along with them. 
It may even be fafeiy predicted of their publications as it was of Por- 
cupine's Gazette, that it will be eventually among the belt, friends of 
the caufe of republicanism. • . . . , . 



58 



To the Imhabitanis 



I mall conclude this letter with obferving that what- 
ever I may think of the Englifh government ; I have 
iuch an opinion of the liberality, the good fenfe, and 
the good tafte, of my countrymen, that 1 do not be- 
lieve that any fuch a newfpaper as that of Peter Por- 
cupine would meet with any encouragement among 
the warmed friends of Church and king in England. 

I am, &c. 



LEI TEE. VII. 

Of my Religion, 

My Friends and Neighbors, 

Mr. GOBBET calls me fometimes an 
unitarian fometimes a delft, lometimes an atheiPt, and 
always a hypocrite. And a great hypocrite I mutt, in- 
deed be, if, in reality, I do not believe in the being 
of a God, or in the truth of chriftianity, when I have 
written more in defence of thofe articles of faith than 
any other man now living, or almoft that ever did 
live,* and have olliciated as a chriftian minifler more 
than forty years. 

I mufi alfo have a greater want of common fenfe 
than he afcribes to me, to maintain opinions fb in- 
coniiftent with one another as thofe above mentioned. 
An aiheift acknowledges no God, and no future ftate ; 

* I can only rcco'Iecl one perfen who has written more in defence 
of Chriftianity than rnyfelf, and that was an Unitarian. I mean Dr. 
Lardner, with whom I had the happinefs to be acquainted, and who 
in conjunction with Dr. Fleming, was the publiiher of the iirft of my 
theological writings. 



Of Northumberland, &c, 



39 



deifts acknowledge the former but few of tltem the 
latter, and they believe in no revalation ; whereas uni- 
tarians deny, indeed, a trinity in God, but they be- 
lieve in one God, the Father, and. in the divine milli- 
on of ChriiL They believe^ that he worked mira- 
cles by the power of God, that God raifed him from 
the dead, and that he will come again to raife all the 
dead, and judge all the world. The fame man con- 
not, therefore, be at the fame time an aiheiji, a dzifi, 
and, an unitarian. 

If I be a hypocrite, in pretending only to be no atheift, 
or deift, while, in reality, I am either the one or the 
other, what have I got by my hypocrify ; when tho' 
I have been a preacher, as I have obferved, more than 
forty years, my profeflion has never yielded me half 
a maintenance ? and here I get nothing at all by it. 
Men are not at the trouble of acting the hypocrite, 
and efpecially for a long time 9 for nothing. 

It is true that I do not join in the public worihip of 
this place; but it is becaufe I cannot join in your de- 
votions, which are altogether trinitarian, as they 
ought to be while you are trinitarians. For it would 
be abfurd to acknowledge Chrift to be God, and not 
to render him the honours of divinity, by praying to 
him as an omniprefent and and omnipotent being, the 
maker and conftant preferver of all things. But 
though I do not worfhip with you, I have divine ier- 
vice every Lord's day in my own houfe, which is then 
open to every body, and where feveral of you occa- 
fionally attend*. Now did any of you ever hear me 
preach any thing like atheifm, or deifm, or indeed 
any thing contrary to your own opinions? And when 
you have heard me pray, could you not join with me 
in every word I faid ? If you be Chriitians at all, I 
am confident you always might, It never was my 

* I have fince this was written performed divine fervice in a fchoci 
room, not far from my houfe. 



40 



To the Inhabitants 



cuftom to preach on the controverted fubjecfs of re= 
ligion, or only cn particular occahons. Thefe I dif- 
cufs in my publications, in which you may fee what 
my opinions on thofe fubjecbare, and the arguments 
I nave to advance in fupportof them. 

. Had i been permitted to officiate in either of your 
meeting houfes (which I Ihould have done gratis, 
thankful for fuch an opportunity of being ufeful 
among you) you would never have heard from me 
any thing but the principles of our common chrijiiariity. 
And this will furniih topics of difcourfe in great abun- 
dance, and fuch as are of far greacer importance than 
all the things about which we differ. The fubftan- 
tial duties of the chriftian life, to inculcate which is, 
or ought to be, the great end of all our preaching, 
are the fame on all our principles ; and do I in my 
preaching (and I hope 1 may add in my practice) con- 
tradict any of thefe ? 

We all agree in acknowledging the fame books of 
fcripture, and we profefs to derive our faith from 
them, though we interpret them differently. This, 
fureiy, is not atheifm, or deifm. If I do not believe 
the divinity of Chrift, it is becaufeT do not believe 
it to be the doctrine of the fcriptures, and becaufe I 
cannot help thinking that if Chrift, and alfothe Holy 
Spirit, be poffefled of all the attributes of divinity, 
equally with God the Father, there muft be three 
Gods, and not one only, which the fcriptures affert, and 
on which they lay the greater! ftrefs. In this you will 
not agree with me ; being of opinion that, in fome 
fenfe or other, three may be one, and one three. But 
you will not lay that becaufe I am not a trinitarian, I 
am an atheift, or a deift. 

You do not call the jews atheifts or deifts, becaufe 
they do not believe the divinity of Mofes, or of the 
Meffiah whom they expect, They believe that Mofes 
delivered to them the laws and commands of God ; 
and therefore they refpect them as much as if they 



Of Northumberland^ &c. 



had all come from the mouth of God himfelf. I do the 
fame with refpecl to all that Chrift, fpeaking in the 
nam e of God, has delivered to us. He has repeat- 
edly faid (John vii. i6, xiv. 24,) that the words which 
he /pake were not his own but the Father's who fent him • 
that the Father who was in him, or w ith him, worked 
the miracles which proved his divine minion (John 
xiv, 10) for that of himfelf he could do nothing (John 
v. 30.) The apoftle Peter calls Chrift a man approved 
of God by figns and wonders which God did by him, A els 
ii . 2i, and the apoftle Paul fays, ( 1 . Cor. viii. 6. i Tim . 
ii. v.) To us there is one God, the Father, and one mediator 
between God and men, the man Chrift Jefus. 

But tho' I think the clear fenfe of fcripture, fuch as 
is intelligible to the meaneft capacity, is on my fide, 
I can eafily fuppofe that you fee things in a very dif- 
ferent light, and that you are as confeientious in dif- 
fering from me, as I am in differing from you. I, no 
doubt, wifli that you could come to think as I do on 
thefe fubjecls, as you do with refpecl: to me. This is 
unavoidable in us both, if we lay any ftrefs on our opi- 
nions, and have any good will for one another. But 
I do not obtrude my opinions upon you, or offend you 
with difputation. Few of you have ever heard me 
mention the fubjeel of our differences with refpecl to 
religion, and then the occafion has never been fought 
by me. I do not condemn thofe who acl otherwiie, 
but my habits are different ; and tho' I have no lefs 
zeal, I take a different method of propagating my prin- 
ciples. I have feldom feen any good produced by dif- 
puting in converfation. It too often tends to irritate, 
and tho* men are often filenced in this way, they are 
feldom convinced. But becaufe I am not always tal- 
king about religion, do you fuppofe, with Mr. Cob- 
bet, that 1 have none ? 

Mr. Adams, your Prefident, is unqueftionably a, 
religious man, and on this account, as well as on ma« 
ny others, I greatly refpecl him. He knows me well 7 

G 



4 3 



To the Inhabitants 



and do you think he would have attended me conilant- 
ly, as he did, when I delivered my firft fet of Dif- 
courfes in Philadelphia, and have contented that I 
ihould dedicate them to him, if he had known, or 
fufpecred, me to be an atheifi or deift, and confequent- 
ly a hypocrite. He entertains no doubt of my being 
a fmcere chriitian, tho' our opinions may not be ex- 
actly the fame. 

I wifi* we had all more religion than we have. We 
mould then think more of another world, and make 
lefs account of this, and of all things in it, than we 
now do. It would give us an habitual regard to God, 
and his providence, refpecting both individuals and 
locieties of mankind, and efpecially the great and in- 
terefting events which are now taking place in the old 
world. Firmly believing that a wife and good provi- 
dence fuperintends all events, and will bring good 
out of all evil, fo that the final iffue of the molt cala- 
mitous events will be glorious and happy, we fhall 
view them as they pafs before us not without intereft, 
but with more tranquility, and without ill will to- 
wards any part of the human race, even our perfonal 
or national enemies. 

Whatever you my think in the prime of life, while 
your fpirits are high, and your profpects good, the 
value of religion at my time of life is beyond all efti- 
mation- Without fuch profpecl s as religion fets before 
us the evening of life would be cheerlefs and gloomy, 
but with them it is moft ferene and happy ; far more 
fo than any preceding period. 1 am far, I allure you, 
from wifhing to be young again, tho I enjoyed that 
part of life as much as any of you can do. 

On this account I regard unbelievers at the clofe of 
life with much companion. And late converts, and 
nominal chriftians, whogive little attention to the fub- 
ject, are not much better. It requires time before the 
principles of|chriftianity can be ofmuchufe in this ref- 
pect. An habitual attention muft be given to them. 



Of Nor thumberland, &c. 



43 



fo that in every intermiflion of neceffary bufinefs they 
(hall, even without any effort, be upper moil in a man's 
thoughts, affording: relief under all his troubles and 
cares. This ftate of mind cannot, m the natural 
courfe of things, be acquired in a fhort time. In this 
refpect faith is a different thing from mere conviflion, 
and admits of degrees, giving confolation and joy in 
proportion to its llrength. 

Atheift or deift as I may be confidered, and attach- 
ed as I am to philofophical purfuits, my chief fatif- 
factions are derived from the daily ftudy of the fcrip- 
tures, and refle&ions on the momentous fubjects that 
are there propofed to us. Religion is the only effec- 
tual fupport under all the troubles of life (and in fay- 
ing this you know that I may fpeak from experience) 
as well as in the hour of death. It alfo tends to make 
men lefs ambitious, and to allay the heat of party fpi- 
rit, which is too often the bane of good neighbour- 
hood, and feparates thole who would other wife be 
happy in apleafing and beneficial intercourfe. If na- 
tions, or their governors, were really chriftians, all man- 
kind would live in peace and friendfhip with one a- 
nother. 

Call this a fermon, if you pleafe, and let Mr. Cobbet 
call it cant and hypocrify. Only believe me to be, not- 
withftanding every difference of opinion, religious or 
political. 

My Friends and Neighbours, 

your fincere well- wiflier, 

JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, 
Northumberland* Nov, i, 1799. 



44 



To the Inhabitants 



P. S. In my next Letters* I {hall, according to my 
promife, proceed to inform you what I think with ref- 
pect to the conduct of your adminiilration, and even 
the conliitution itfelf. But as thefe are ferious and deep 
fubjects, ihey require to be treated with much caution. 
And thefe being ticklifh times, it may be prudent to 
have a confultation of my lawyers on the bufinefs. 
Poor as is the find which Mr. Gobbet fays I dignify 
with the name of a houfe, I mould be forry to exchange 
it for fuch lodgings as the liberality of this country 
afiigned to Mr. Lyon, tho' this might gratify Mr. Cob- 
bet as much as my having a place in the poor houfe 
in Philadelphia. 

S inci this Poftcript was fent to the prefs the follow- 
ing article, reflecting on Mr. Cooper and myfelf, has 
appeared in the Reading New/paper of October 26, 
.1799. . 

f* Thomas Cooper's addrefs to the readers of theSun- 
" bury and Northumberland Gazette, of which he 
<k was Editor, having been republifhed in this State, 
cc with an introduction approbatory of the piece, a 
C£ correfpondent wilhes to know if it be the fame Tho- 
C{ rims Cooper, an Englifnman, of whom the following 
" anecdote is related ? If it is, every paper devoted to 
" truth, honor and decency, ought togiveit a thorough 
< ' circulation." 

cc Not many months ago, it is faid, a Mr. Cooper, 
an Englifhman, applied to the President of the Uni- 
" ted States to be appointed " agent for fettling the 
cs refpeclive claimes of the citizens and fubjecls of 
" this country and Great Britain." In his letter he 
" informs the President that although he (Thomas 
" Cooper ) had been called a Democrat, yet his real po- 
" litical fentiments were fuch as would be agreeable 

*This publication was originally in two parts, and the firfl of 
them clofed with the 7th letter. The 8th letter and the following 
were publiflied about a month after. 



Of Northumberland^ &d 



45 



" to the President and government of the United 
" States, or expreffions to that effeft. This letter 
" was accompanied with another from Dr. Jofepb 
" Priejlley, who did not fail toaffure the President, 
?•* of the pliability of his friend Cooper's democratic 
" principles. The President, it is faid, rejected C00- 
C£ per's application with difdain, and Prieftlefs with & ill 
" ftronger marks of furprife, faying, it is faid, as he 
" threw the letter on the table, does he think that I 
<c would appoint any Englishman to that important 
cc office in preference to an American ! — What was 
" the confequence ? — When Thomas Cooper found his 
" application for a lucrative office under our Presi- 
c< dent rejected, he writes in revenge the addrefs which 
" has appeared in print, and Dr. PrieJHey exerted his 
46 influence in difperling this very addrefs, which he 
" muft know was the offspring of difappointment 
" and revenge ! ! I" 

The addrefs is as cunning and infidious a produc- 
" tion as ever appeared in the Aurora, or the old Chro- 
" nicle, and as for impudence it exceeds, or at leaft 
" equals Porcupine himfelf. — Priejiley and Ceoper are 
" both called upon to deny the above narrative. A 
cc recourfe to the letters themfelves would eftablifh the 
cs accuracy of this anecdote even to a fyllable. 



Of the candour and juftice of this reprefentation 
my readecwill judge from the tenor of the letters 
referred to, of which the following are copies. 

Auguft I?, 1797. 

Dear Sir 3 

IT was far from being my intention, or my wifh, to 
trouble you with a requeit of any favours, though it 



4 6 



To the Inhabitants 



hmw in your power to grant them; and itps not at 
all probable that I fhall ever take a fecond liberty of. 
the kind. But circumfiances have arifen which, I 
think, call upon me to do it once, though not for 
myfelf but a friend. The office of Agent for Ame- 
rican claims, was offered, I underitand, to Mr. Hall 
of Sunbury, and he has declined it. If this be the cafe, 
and no other perfon be yet fixed upon, I {hould be 
very happy if I could ferve Mr. Cooper (a man, I 
doubt not, of at leait equal ability, and poffefTed of 
every other qualification for the office) by recom- 
mending him. It is true that both he and myfelf 
fall, in the language of our calumniators, under the 
defcription of Democrats^ who are ftudioufly repre- 
fented as enemies to what is called government both in 
England and here. What /have done to deferve that 
character you well know, and Mr. Cooper has done 
very little more. In fact, we have both been perfe- 
cuted for being friends to American liberty, and our 
preference of the government of this country has 
brought us both hither. However, were the accufa- 
tion true, I think the appointment of a man of un- 
queft ion able ability and fidelity to his trufi, for which 
I would make myfelf anfwerable, would be fuch a 
mark of fuperiority to popular prejudice as I fhould 
expeel from you. 1 therefore think it no unfavourable 
circumftance in the recc?rnnendaiion* That you will acl: 
according to your beft judgment I have no doubt, 
with refpect to this and other affairs of infinitely more 
moment, through which I am perfuaded you will 
bring the country with reputation to yourfelf, though, 
(in circumfiances of fuch uncommon difficulty) per- 
haps with lefs eafe and fatisfaction than I could wifh. 
With my earned wifhes for the honour and tranqui- 
lity of your Prefidency, 

I am, Dear Sir, 

yours fincerely, 

JOSEPH PRIESTLEY. 



Of Northumberland j &c. 



47 



Sir, 

ON my expYeffing an inclination for the oliice 
which Mr. Hall has declined, Dr. Frieftley was fo good 
as to offer his fer vices with you on my behalf. 

Probably the office will be filled 'ere this letter can 
reach you : probably there may be objections to no- 
minating a perfon not a native of this country: pro- 
bably the objection mentioned by Dr. PrieJHey may reafon- 
ably be deemed of weight in my infiance. Be all this as it 
may, I fee no impropriety in the prefent application 
to be appointed Agent of American claims, for it is 
ftill poflible I may fuppofe more weight in the objec- 
tions than they will be found to deferve. If it mould 
fo happen that I am nominated to that office I ih all 
endeavour to merit the character the Doctor has given 
of me, and your efteem. 

I am, &c. 

THOMAS COOPER. 

From my letter it will clearly appear that I was far 
from propofing any derileclion of principles on the 
part of Mr. Cooper. I mould as foon have expected 
it on the part of Mr. Adams himfelf. I was alfo far 
from intending any affront to Mr. Adams, for whom I 
always had a very high efteem. 1 honoured' him for 
his integrity, and refpected even what I thought to be 
his prejudices. Befides he was juft then entered on 
his office of Prefident, and had not done any thing to 
offend perfons of Mr. Cooper's political principles. 

1 thought Mr. Cooper Angularly well qualified for 
difcharging the duties of the office in queftion, on ac- 
count of his knowledge of Engiiih law and Englifh 
commerce, as well as for his acknowledged -ability and 



4 3 



To the Inhabitants 



activity. I alio thought that I was giving Mr. Adams 
an opportunity of ferving himfelf, by {hewing his libe- 
rality, in favouring a perfon whofe political principles 
differed from his own, but in a cafe in which they 
could not interfere with them . At the fame time he 
would have obliged a perfon for whom he always pro- 
feffed much efleein, and whom he had honoured with 
his correfpondence and intercourfe. 

As Mr. Cooper was, together with my fon, intro- 
duced to Mr. Adams by a letter from me, w T ho was 
then in England, he mould, t think, high as his Ra- 
tion was, have interpofed to prevent fo mocking a 
mifreprefentation of our letters to him. If we had 
not had copies of them, we mould both have been 
difgraced, and Mr. Cooper, I may fay, ruined, his 
livelihood depending upon his character. And lu re- 
ly if under fuch a provocation a few intemperate ex- 
preffions dropped from a man whofe feelings may be 
fomething too quick, they mould have been overlook- 
ed. Yet for what Mr. Cooper faid on that occafion, 
he was fcntenced to an imprifonment of fix months, 
and to pay a fine of four hundred dollars. And tho' 
it was in his power to prove the truth of all his alle- 
gations, he was not allowed the ufe of fuch documents 
from the public offices as would have been abundantly 
fufficient for his purpofe ; nor was Mr. Adams allowed 
to be fubpcened. This, however, I think is obviouf- 
Jy due to any citizen, efpecially when his life or his 
liberty is in danger. 

The following obfervations on the general fubject. 
of appointment to offices, which I wrote fome time ago, 
will not, I flatter myfelf, be thought improperly fub- 
joined here, and may recommend themfelves as of 
fome importance to impartial perfons of all parties. 
Let the Prefident in queftion be either Mr. Adams or 
Mr. Jefferfon. 

To have the higher officers of the ftate, thofe with 
whom it may be proper to confult on the general con- 



of Northumberland^ &c. 



49 



duct of affairs, as the heads of the feveral departments, 
men of the fame political principles with the Pre/ident, 
could not be complained of. But when all offices, e- 
ven fuch as are merely lucrative, are confined to one 
party, it naturally exafperates thofe of oppofite princi- 
ples, and gteatly promotes a fpirit of party in the coun- 
try ; and this may proceed fo far as to hazard a civil 
war. It is, therefore, the part of good policy, as well 
as of magnanimity, to diftribute all offices with as e- 
qual a hand as poffible. Otherwife, inftead of being 
the chief of the nation, a Prefident makes himfelf the 
head of a particular party. 

Should all the partifans of fuch a Prefident follow 
his example, and employ no phyfician, no carpenter, no 
mafon, no f hoe maker, &c. but men of their own poli- 
tical fentiments ; and mould thofe of oppofite princi- 
ples, in felf defence, do the fame, it would be a flate 
of mutual perfecution on account of opinion, an en- 
deavour to exterminate one another by flarving, which 
approaches very nearly to an attempt to effect, the fame 
by violence. The only difference is that of taking a 
town by blockade, or by ftorm. They are alike ope- 
rations of open war* A Prefident, therefore, who 
wifhes to promote the peace of the country will care- 
fully avoid fetting fuch an example. 



H 



S9 



To the Inhabitants 



LETTER VIII. 

Of th§ Innocence and Advantage of the free DifcuJJion of 
all political Subjecls, 

My Friends and Neighbours, 

HAVING promifed you a full confeflion of all my 
political crimes and mifdemeanors, and having in the 
preceding Letters made a faithful declaration of what 
fum 9 and what I have done among you, I proceed to 
give you fome of my thoughts, and though you 
might, in fome meamre, have guefied at them through 
the medium of my actions, I will fave you that trou- 
ble, and tell you more of my thoughts than any 
knowledge you have of my actions could pollibly 
have enabled the moft fagacious of you to difcover. 
But in order to do this fairly and honeftly, you muft 
excufe me, if, after fpeaking of my own faults, I 
touch a little upon yours, though I mall do this with 
as gentle a hand as poflible. 

You muft, however, confider, that though I may 
point out what appears to me to be a fault, you will 
of courfe, be the judges in your own caufe, and ac- 
knowledge it or not as you may fee reafon ; and alfo 
that it is not in my power, but altogether in yours, 
to find the proper remedy. As a fenfible Pope faid 
to fome Englifhmen who were introduced to him, 
when he unexpectedly gave them his benedi£lion in 
the ufual form at parting, " The bleffing of an old 
^ man can do you no harm fo the advice of an old 
man, as I am, however improper, or impertinent, 
cannot hurt you. My trouble in writing is not much, 
gnd yours in reading is ftill lefs, 



Of Northumberland, &c. 



Presuming, as I hope I may, that, after the apcM 
logy I have made for writing thefe Letters, you will 
not think it impertinent in me, though an alien, to 
give you. my thoughts on any fubject relating to the 
conduct of public affairs (in which lam as much in- 
tereftedas any of you can be) I fhall take the liberty 
to requeft more of your attention to fome particular 
articles, than you feem to me to have given to them* 
I may alfo plead that this is the only way in which I 
can contribute to the redrefs of any grievance of 
which I may think I fee caufe to complain. For, be- 
ing an alien, 1 am neither eligible to any office of truPc 
myfelf, nor have I a vote for any candidate. But the 
lowehV fervant in a family, if he think that any 
thing is going wrong, may fpeak of it to any of his 
fellow fervants, even to the Reward, or to the mailer 
himfelf, whether they will attend to him or not. 

Nothing, however, is more common with the 
friends of the adminiilration in all countries than to 
confider every cenfure of public meafures as an attack 
upon the government of the country, and every cen- 
fure of the government as a thing hoflile to the people* 
But it is without any good reafon in either of the 
cafes. Will it be pretended that all magistrates, and 
all minifters of ftate, are infallible, or impeccable? 
If not, they may miftake the intereft of the country, 
or confuit their own intereft at its expence. May 
not, then, a perfon who thinks them to be either 
miftaken, or difhoneft, and that the people, at large 
are in danger of being injured by their conduct, • 
point it out to his countrymen ? Nay, is it not the 
abfolute duty of every honeft man to give to others 
the information that he has acquired himfelf? Ac- 
cording to the principles of your conftitution, all 
perfons intrufted with the conduct of public affairs, 
how high foever you have placed them, are but your 
fervants, and accountable to you for their conduct in 
office. 



5 2 



To the Inhabitants 



Farther, if any perfon fhould conceive that any thing 
in the very conftitution of the government itfeif 
might be changed for the better, is he an enemy to 
the people for propoftng it ? It is only giving his opi- 
nion concerning what he imagines will be for their 
good. Tho' he be miftaken, his intention may be 
the beft in the world, and therefore he will be inti- 
tled to their thanks. 

If I were to advife you to change the whole form of 
your govenment, from a republic to an abfolute mo- 
narchy, I fhould do you no harm, fince you would 
be at liberty to receive or rejeft the propofal as you 
thought proper. I might fay that a Prelident like 
yours would make a poor appearance in the prefence 
of a king, that kingly government has both more dig- 
nity and more energy than yours ; that fuch a man as 
the late king of Pruilia, or Peter the Great of Ruffia, 
would prefently rid you of all traitorous and feditious 
perfon s, without troubling your courts of juftice with 
them, which would be a great faving of expence ; 
that fuch a government would keep all the country 
perfectly quiet ; that then the lower orders of the 
people, having nothing to do with politics, would at- 
tend to their proper bufinefs, of agriculture^ manu- 
factures, or commerce, without diftraclion, and their 
affairs would profper in proportion ; and that thofe 
of the higher orders, the more opulent, not being 
obliged to give any part of their time to the fludy of 
the theory of government, would have more leifure 
to attend to the improvement of the polite arts and 
fcience, to the glory of the monarch in the firft place, 
and their own reputation in the fecond. 

But if, notwithstanding all that I could urge in fa- 
vour of fuch a government, you mould prefer what 
you call liberty, in which perfons of all ranks , qualifi- 
ed or unqualified, give the greateft part of their time 
to a fubjedl which they will never underftand, and 
ftill chufe to clamour, and almoft fight, about endlefs 



Of Northumberland &c. 



53 



elections of magiftrates, no harm would be done. 
You might proceed juft as you had done before. 

If, in order to prevent the mifchief that often arifes 
from competition, I mould advife that, inftead of ma- 
king a king of any native American, who would not 
foon acquire the proper difpoiition and habits of one, 
you mould return to your former allegiance to the 
king of Great Britain, a king ready formed to your 
hands, who would, no doubt, forgive all that was 
paft, and promife you the beft treatment for the fu- 
ture, and thus become a wing of that great empire 
which now commands the world, and lhare in the 
honour of exterminating all Jacobinifm, democracy, 
anarchy, and irreligion (all of which are now only 
coniidered as different names of the fame thing) and 
you mould not quite like the propofal, I ihould ilili 
hope to be excufed for making it, from my loyalty to 
my natural fovereign, and my zeal for the honour of 
my native country, even if I did not confuit your in- 
tereil in it ; and as you would not be hurt, you could 
not be much offended. 

Mr. Cobbet, a greater admirer of Englad than I 
am, would, no doubt, go farther than I could (in its com- 
mendation. He might fay that, could you but fee the 
king of Great Britain in his ftate coach, drawn by eight 
cream coloured horfes, with all his horfe guards, fur- 
rounded by perhaps a hundred thoufand admiring fpec- 
tators, in his progrefs tho' St. James's park, and after 
that fee him feated in his robes on the throne in thehoufe 
of Lords, with all the Lords and Bifhpps in their robes ; 
could you fee him ferved on the knee, and perfons kif- 
fmg his hand, you would be amain cd of your Prefl- 
dent, and every thing belonging to him. He might 
fay that an American would be {truck dumb at die 
fight of an En glim judge feated in his fcarlet.rohe on 
the bench, with all the lawyers in' their. gowns, and 
flowing wigs. He would fay that the be if man among 
you was hardly fit to be made a juftice of the peace in 



54 the Inhabit ants 

England. And then what is your navy? It is not fo 
much as the frog compared to the ox in the fable ; and 
might bid you take care left the ox mould fet his foot 
upon it. 

But mould you coniider all this as mere prejudice, 
in favour of our native country, and think there was 
more {hew than fubftance in kingly governments, that 
armies and navies coft more than they are worth, and 
that you could employ your funds to more advantage, 
you would only fmiie at our reprefentations, and not 
be angry. 

To be perfectly ferious : in all countries, and under 
every form of government, opinions of every kind, and 
thofe of all perfons, natives or aliens, in office or out 
of office, mould be perfectly free : becaufe they can do 
no harm ; tho' overt ads, tending to the forcible fub- 
verfion of any government, mould be watched with 
the greateft care. 

A perfon may even be fafely trufted with the admi- 
niftration of the affairs of a country the conftitution of 
whofe government he does not approve. Admitting, 
for inftance, what is commonly iuppofed, and is not 
altogether improbable, that Mr. Adams, the Prelident, 
mould think an hereditary -monarchy preferable to an e- 
kcled Executive,, like that of this country ; being or o- 
pinion that fuch a form of government is more favour- 
able to the peace and happinefs of the people ; yet, 
yielding, as every man mult do, to the opinion of the 
majority of his fellow citizens, and dreading, as all 
wife men will, the hazard of any great change, or re- 
volution, in the government, he may faithfully ad- 
min liter that which he has fworn to maintain 4 and I 
have no doubt, but that whatever may be his private 
opinion on the lubject, he will do it to the belt of his 
ability. 

All that we have to apprehend in fuch a cafe is from 
the opinions of perfons in high offices becoming gene- 
ral ; and it is, doubilefs, much in their power to re- 



Of Northumberland, £sfo 



commend their opinions to general acceptance. But 
even then, if the people at large really approve of the 
change propofed, the propofer will be entitled to their 
gratitude for bringing it about. Nothing is to be dread- 
ed but violence ', which we need not fear will ever be at- 
tempted in this country. Let every thing, efpecially 
thingsof importance, be propofed tofree difcufiion, and 
let truth and error have equal advantage. The former 
cannot fail to recommend itfelf to univerfal acceptance 
in due time, and the latter will be univerfally exploded. 

I am, &c. 



LETTER IX, 

Of Improvements in the Conjlltuiion of the United States. 

My Friends and Neighbours ', 

MY obje& in this Letter is not to criticife the whole 
of your conftitution, or to dwell' on the general ex- 
cellence of it. I think it the beft that has ever been 
devifed by man, and reduced to practice, in any age, 
or in any part, of the world. It has every thing that 
is valuable in the En glim conftitution, which was con- 
feifedly fuperior to any other in Europe, without its 
defects. Without this perfuaiion I mould not have 
come among you. But no work of man can be ex- 
pected to be perfect ; and therefore you will not, I 
hope, be offended if I mention two or three particulars, 
with refpecl to which I think it might be improved. 



56 



To the Inhabitants 



Of this, however, you will judge for yourfelves. The 
mere opinion of anyperfon, and efpecially that of an 
alien, cannot do you any harm. 

i. If then, I may take the liberty to cenfure ?ny 
article in your conftitution, the firft that I mould no- 
tice would be that which allows of the eligibility of 
any man to the office of Prefident for life. Hiftory 
abundantly mews that the love of power is as great as 
that of money. The more men have of either, the 
more they generally wifli to have. It being poliible, 
then, by your conftitution, for a man to keep this 
high fttuation for life, by being elected into it every 
four years, he has an intereft in enlarging the power 
attached to it ; and if ambition be his objecl (and pure 
patriotifm, I fear, exifls only in Utopia) he will ufe 
every means that his fituation gives him, which will 
neceffarily be great, to gain friends ; efpecially by giv- 
ing offices of truft and emolument under him, not to 
thofe who are the belt qualified to difcharge the duties 
of them, but to thofe who will fecond his views of 
continuing in power. And they who are thus 
favoured by him will naturally concur in promoting 
his intereft, becaufeit will lay him under an addition- 
al obligation to promote theirs. 

On the contrary, if the conftitution was fuch as 
that no perfon could enjoy an office of fuch power as 
that of the Prefident longer than three or four years, 
and he was not eligible to it again, or not till after a 
confiderable diftance of time, it would not be his inter- 
eft to make friends at the expence of his country, and 
he would not wifh to enlarge a power to which he 
muft himfelf foon be, and remain, fubjecl:. 

Whatever may be objected to the conftitution of 
France in other refpecls, in this it is prefer able to that 
of this country. Since each of the five directors, be- 
ll des having only one fifth part of the power of your 
Prefident, muft be reduced to the rank of a common 
citizen in five years, the temptation he is under to ex- 



Of Northumberland, tsfc. 



tend his power is much lefs* This advantage, how* 
ever, is probably more than balanced by the want of 
union, and consequently of energy, in men a divided 
executive. 

It will be faid that the longer any perfon in the ex- 
ecutive offices of government continues in power, the 
more liable and uniform the meafures of government 
will be ; whereas frequent changes will be attended 
with endlefs fluctuations, fo that foreign powers will 
never know what to look to. 

But this inconvenience, for fuch it is acknowledged 
to be, only takes place when the perfon poffeffed of 
this power has no will but his own to fellow, as in 
governments that are arbitrary, like that of RulTia. 
This empire has feldom changed its head without a 
total change of its politics. Peter III found his country 
at war with the king of PruiTia, and inftantly became 
his ally. This alliance the emprefs, who foon fuc- 
ceededhim^ changed into a ftate of neutrality, and if 
{he had pleafed, it might have been hoftiiity again 0 

What can be more changeable than the meafures of 
the fame arbitrary court, directed by the caprices of 
different courtiers and favourites ? Bumouriez fays 
that thofe of the court of Verfailies, in his time, varied 
with every change of minifters, of factions, of mif- 
treffes, or of favourites. See his Life, vol. 2, p. 85. 

But the leaders of a government truly republican, 
like that of the United States, will, and muft, take 
their meafures from the wifhes of the people, which 
are not fo apt to change, becauie they flow from the 
general intereft. The annual change of the Roman 
confuls never occaiioned any change in the meafures 
of government, nor did the annual election of Doges 
at Venice or Genoa, 

It will alfo be faid that if the people really prefer 
any particular Preiident to any other, they ought to 
be gratified, and not be under a necefuty of changing 
him. But in a country of fuch an extent as that of 

I 



To the Inhabitants 



the United States of America, there muft, furely, be 
more than one perfon whom the people will think fuf^ 
ficiently qualified to ferve them, and in whom they 
can fafely place confidence : and this fmall reftriclion 
of their choice will be abundantly compenfated by 
putting it out of the power, or inclination, of any 
Prefident to confulthis own intereft at theexpence of 
theirs. 

If you read any hiftory, you will find that an at- 
tachment to particular perfons has been the occafion 
of unfpeakable rnifchief in all countries. Though 
Tome inconvenience arofe from the Romans having 
annual cdnfuls, and annual generals, it was found to 
be trilling compared with thofe which were the con* 
fequence of the attachment the foldiers acquired for 
fuch men as Marius and Sylla, Cseiar and Pompey, 
who were Suffered to continue many years in the com- 
mand of the fame armies. It was the true caufe of 
that fucceffion of dreadful civil wars, which did not 
end but with the total fubveriion of the republican 
form of government, and the eftablifhment of one 
that was purely military and defpotic. 

3. In my Leclures on Hiftory and General Policy Vol 1. 
p. 65, I obferved, that " it is a manifefl abfurdity to 
" have any more than one will in any ftate ; becaufe 
ec when any part of the government has an abfolute 
sc negative on the proceedings of the reft, all public 
45 bufinefs may be at a Stand ; though it is, no doubt, 
" very ufeful to provide againft precipitate resolutions, 
sc by a power to command a revifion or a fufpenfion 
fit of decrees. In this refpect both our own conftitu- 
u tion, and that of the United States of North Ame- 
sc rica, are defective." 

The inconvenience of this fyftem would be experi- 
enced in the EngliHi government, but that the all con- 
ling influence of the crown, in fad, directs the 
proceedings of both the houfes that have a negative 
upon it. But in your conftitution, in which the 



Of Northumberland, <&c. 



59 



three powers are really independent on each other, 
the inconvenience of the fyftem may be felt. It was 
fo lately in the fimilar conftitution of the fiate of 
Pennsylvania, when the houfe of reprefentatives pre- 
ferring one mode of chuiing the electors of the Pre- 
iident, and the Senate another, they actually fepara- 
ted without agreeing upon any; fo that the ftate was 
in danger of lofing its vote in that important queftion ; 
and at a fecond meeting, they made a compromife 
that really pleafed neither of them, and that was con- 
demned by the people in general. 

This inconvenience will not be wholly remedied by 
any different mode of chufing the Senators, but 
only by taking from them their abfolute negative on 
the proceedings of the houfe of reprefentatives ; as, 
for a fimilar reafon, this is not given to the Prefident 
of the United States. The more temperate delibera- 
tions of a few, may be an ufeful check upon the im- 
petuofity with which popular fpeakers often impel the 
proceedings of a greater number; but they are not 
fo likely to entertain the real fentiments, and conform 
to the wifhes, of the people at large, as the perfons 
who are their more immediate and their later choice, 
A Senate chofen in a prior period will more probably 
retain the prevailing fentiments and views of that pe- 
riod, than thofe of the time p relent.. But for that 
very reafon, they will be a more natural and ufeful 
check on decifions dictated by momentary circumftan- 
ces, which are apt to be precipitate and unwife. 

4. So excellent a conftitution as is that of this coun- 
try deferves to be guarded with the greateft care ; and 
yet in this refpect it appears to me to be defective, as it 
contains no fuhicient provifion for guarding again ft vi- 
olations of it by perfons entrufted with its adminiftra- 
tion. To decide in queflions of this high and ferious 
nature, there mould, I think, be a fpecial court, con- 
lifting of deputies from all the ftates of the union, 



66 



To the Inhabitants 



The greater! danger of any encroachment on the 
couftitution is from the Congrefs miitaking, or exceed- 
ing, their power; and by proceeding without any check 
of this kind, they might gradually aflume all the power 
of the hnglifii parliament, which is uncontrouled by 
any defined constitution. And certainly no body of 
men ihouid be 'Judges in their own caufe. 
PnThe ordinary judges, though continuing in office 
during their good behaviour, and not removeable at 
uny perfon's pleafure, are fo connected with perfons 
in power, and especially thofe from whom they re- 
ceived their appointments, that they have been found, 
with very few exceptions, to favour the exiiting ad- 
ministration in ail countries, and in all times. 

I would alio take the liberty to propofe that it 
ihouid be in the power of the legiHature of any of 
the ieparate Rates to call this fpeciai court, and lay 
before it whatever they may apprehend to have 
been a violation of the conftitution, by the Congrefs, 
the Preudent, or any man, or body of men, what- 
ever. 

5. If I might take the liberty to cenfure not only 
your government, but that of every other in the 
world, it would be your requiring oaths of allegiance 
and indeed any declaration of a man's principles or 
ientiments in words or writing. fi Befides being an 
abufe of religion, and a temptation to prevaricate, I 
do not believe that this meafure has ever been found 
to aniwer the end propofed by it. On one pretence 
or other, and efpeciaily that of perfons being com- 
pelled to take them, through the impoflibility of 
avoiding them, it will be maintained by many, that 
they are of no force or obligation ; and in many 
countries oaths of allegiance have been changed to others 
inconfiftent with them, and yet have not been objected 
to on that account. Witnefs thofe that' have been 
taken in France to the d Liferent constitutions of that 
country fiiice the abolition of - monarchy. 



Of Northumberland, life. 61 

A few confeientious perfons, who wifh to be quiet, 
and who might he fafely truited in any government, 
will fcruple to take fuch oaths ; and by this means 
good fubjects are excluded, while men of no princi- 
ple, fuch as alone are dangerous, will make no diffi- 
culty of taking any oath that you chufe to impof'e. 

It might, furely„ be fufficient to punilh perfens^ 
refiding in any country when they are found to 5fr 
contrary to the laws of it. For my own part I prefer 
the fituation of an alien, inconvenient as it is in fe~ 
vera! refpecls, rather than make the harfh decoration 
which your laws require refpecling the country of 
which I am a native ; but while my perfon and my 
property are in your power, have you not fufficient 
hold upon me ; withoutrequiringany verbal declaration 
about renouncing England, and of my attachment to 
America? 

It may be prudent not to admit flrangers to of- 
fices of truit and power till after a competent time of 
refidence ; f o that it may be prefumed that they have 
acquired a fufficient knowledge of your laws and 
conflitution, and a proper attachment to them. Bat 
the declaration of this by an oath appears to me to 
be fuperfiuous, to be a caufe of dlftrefs to the con- 
feientious, and no bar whatever to thofe whom you 
would wifh to keep cut of the country. 




lam, &c. 



7 



6z 



To the Inhabitants 



LE1TER X 



Of Infringements of the Conftitution by the Ails of Con- 
greff refpecling the Regulation of Commerce, the Power 
of making Peace and War, and Reftriclions of the 
Freedom of Speech and of the Prefs. 

My Friends and Neighbours, 

WHEN I left England, I was induced to come 
hither chiefly on account of my high admiration of 
the confdtution of your government. It was at that 
time the only one that had been drawn up with deli- 
beration by perfons appointed for that exprefs purpofe 
and folemnly accepted by the nation. It was wholly 
founded on the rights of man, and the fovereignty of 
the people. In other words it was purely republic an % 
every officer being chofen by the people, to ferve 
them for a limited time, and afterwards accountable 
to them for their conduct.. There were no hereditary 
honours, or powers of any kind, and no form of re- 
ligion eflablimed by law. The power of making 
peace or war, and aifo that of regulating commerce 
with foreign nations, as well as among yourfelves, 
was wifely placed in the Congrefs, of which your im- 
mediate reprefentarives (who are the molt interefted 
in every thing of this kind) are the mod eifential 
part. Your country was then open to all new comers 
without any reftriclion ; and that great and neceifary 
guard of liberty, the the freedom of fpeech and of - the 



Of Northumberland, &c. 



pfefs, was uncontrolled. Your confeitution exprefsly 
fays that " the migration of fuch perfons as any flat e 
" then exifting fhould think proper to admit mould 
" not be prohibited by Congrefs till the year 1808 ; 
€C and that the Congrefs fhould make no law abridg- 
" the freedom of fpeech or of the prefs." 

To my great fur prize and mortification, however, 
I now find that feveral of thefe articles, effential to a 
truly free government, have been, in my opinion, on 
one pretence or other, infringed. Or, if the prefent 
ft ate of things be really agreeable to the Conl'titution, 
it was not drawn up for the ufe of plain men, but of 
very acute lawyers only. Certainly the.comment does 
not naturally flow from the text ; or there was in the 
letter of the conilitution a latent ambiguity, which 
defeats the profeffed object of it. Thus becaufe your 
Conilitution gives to the Preildent, and two thirds of 
the Senate, the power of making treaties with foreign 
powers, and treaties may relate to any fubjecl in which 
different Hates may be concerned, they may make trea- 
ties of alliance, offenfive and defenfive, and aifo treaties of 
commerce ; and by this means all interference of the 
proper reprefentatives of the people either in the bufi- 
nefs of commerce, or of peace and war, in which they 
are moft concerned, and in which they therefore ought 
in reafon to have the moil controll, is effectually pre- 
cluded. The treaty, fhackling their commerce, or in* 
volving them in a war, is actually made independently 
of them, and all their obiecfions to it have no effect. 

Since treaties become parts of the law, by which 
the courts of juftice are bound, I do not fee but that it 
is in the power of the Prefident and two thirds of the 
fenate, that is I believe of twenty-one men, to bind 
the country in all cafes whatever. For what is there 
that may not be introduced into fome treaty ? In this 
way this country might have become a party in the 
treaty of Pilnitz or of Pavia, and thus have been en- 
gaged, tho' ever fo reluctantly, in the coalition againft 
the liberties of France, and of Europe in general- 



6 4 



Td the inhabitants 



It is, moreover, contended by the friends, as they 
are called, of government, that when, in confequence 
of any treaty, money is to be raifed to carry it into 
effect, the reprefentatives of the nation, who give the 
money, mutt abfolutely raife the mm required, or as 
the phrafe is, make the appropriations ; having no other 
choice than that of railing it in what they may think 
the heft manner. 

This is a power which even the parliament of Great 
Britain has not yet been brought to furrender. There 
the king has, indeed, the nominal power of making 
peace and war, and alfo treaties of every kind. But if 
money be neceffary to carry, them into execution, the 
treaties come under difcuilion in the Houfe of Com- 
mons, and the people give or with-hold their money 
as they think proper ; fo that they have a virtual ne- 
gative on all the meafures of the court ; and certainly 
it is highly reafonable that they fhould have it. And 
was not this intended by the framers of your conflitu- 
tion too ? Could they give the Congrefs the power of 
making peace and war, and alfo that of regulating 
commerce in one part of that inltrument, and take it 
out of their hands in another ? Such manifeft incon- 
fiftency and deceit is not to be fuppofed. 

It, therefore, appears rnoft clearly to me, who am a, 
Granger among you, that the real meaning and intent 
of the conftitution in thefe two eifential articles has 
been perverted, that a moft important power has been 
taken from the many, and transferred to the few, and 
that the moft valuable interefts of the former have been 
furrendered to the latter. If in this I reafon wrong, I 
wifh to be fet right. But I prefume that your confti- 
tution was drawn up for the ufe of the citizens at large, 
and in fuch language as it was thought they might un- 
der (land ; and this language being Englifh, I may be 
fuppofed to underftand it as well as yourfeives. Your 
conftitution is not like that of the Englifh government, 
to be looked for in remote hiftory, or collected from 



Of Northumberland, &c. 



65 



the actual exercife of it, like the principles of the conu 
mon law. It is committed to writing, and was made 
in the memory of perfons now living ; fo that the real 
meaning of every article of it, and the reafons on which 
they were founded, are well known. 

So evident is it, in my opinion, that the alien and 
/edition acls are unconfiitutional, that I fh all not en- 
large on the proof of this. It is fufficient, I think, to 
obferve with refpedl: to them, that the Congrefs have 
made laws (if unconstitutional acls can be called laws) 
on fubjecls with refpecl: to which they were exprefsly 
forbidden by the conftitution to make any. I {hall, 
therefore, content myfelf with making fome obferva- 
tions on the nature and tendency of them. 

Laws calculated to reflrain the freedom of fpeech 
and of the prefs, which have alw r ays been made on the 
pretence of the abiife of it, are of fo fufpicious a na- 
ture in thernfelves, and have been fo conflantly the 
refort of arbitrary governments, that I was beyond 
meafure aftonifhed to find them introduced here ; and 
yet in fome refpecls th_ laws that have lately been 
made by Congrefs are more fevere than thole in Eng- 
land. 

While the prefs is open to the friends, as well as the 
enemies, of thofe in power, I fee no good reafon why 
they mould not be content to defend themfelves with 
the fame weapons with wlrich they are attacked. Why 
fhould any man flicker himfelf behind penal laws when 
he is attacked by argument, if it was in his power to 
defend himfelf in the fame way ? Argument anfwers 
the purpofe fo much more effectually than force, that 
it is reafonable to conclude, that recourfe will never 
be had to the latter, but when there is a failure of the 
former. Why do we ufe a rod to children, but be- 
caufe they are incapable of hearing reafon I In no cotm* 
try will there ever be wanting men mfficientfy able, 
and willing to defend the conduct of the governing 
powers. To this ftandard men of genius are ready 

K . 



65 



To the Inhabitants 



enough to run, from motives that do not need to be 
pointed out. 

All mere opinions concerning the conduct of perfons 
in public offices ought to be as free as any other opi- 
nions concerning fubjects that are intereiting to the 
community. In fact, it is no more than mailers cen- 
tring the conduct of their fervants. For every indi- 
vidual is a part of the great mafc, for the ufe of whom 
all governments were iniiituted. Eut perfons in ojfiee, 
which neceffarily implies firvitude, being ufually called 
governors, are apt to arrogate to themfeives the prero- 
gatives of majfers ; and their friends and flatterers call 
almoft every cenfure on their conduct, every thing 
that has in it more of freedom than they like, in fp cak- 
ing or writing, /edition or treafon : whereas, in reafon 
nothing ought to be fo termed, that does not imme- 
diately affect the peace of the country. 

The characters, or the lives, of perfons in office, by 
whatever names they may be called, ought not to be 
confidered in any other light than thofe of other indi- 
viduals, under the protection of the fame laws. An 
attempt to take the life of a king would never have 
been confidered as high treafon in Europe, if kings had 
not been coniidered in a different light from that of 
the fervants of the Public. Not but that the lives of 
all public officers, civil or military, even that of a con- 
ilable, being of great importance to the fociety, the 
crime of taking them away is greater than that of the 
murder of private perfons ; but ftill it is a different 
thing from that of high treafon. But though it may 
be proper to guard the lives of public officers by fevere 
penal laws, there is no neceffity for fuch a defence of 
their characters? or public conducl ; becaufe they may 
be defended by the fame means by which they are at- 
tacked. When a life is taken the mifchief is without 
remedy, but any injury done to a character may be re- 
paired. 



Of Northumberland^ &c. 



6 7 



Governors vainly endeavour to ward off impend- 
ing evils by im poling file nee on their adverfaries. Hii- 
tory (hews that no government ever derived any per- 
manent advantage from meafures of this kind. The 
lefs men have the liberty to fpeak, the more they will 
think ; and they naturally fufpect that what they are 
forbidden to examine will not bear examination. 

In no country was there ever lefs liberty of print* 
ing and publifhing than in France before the revoluti- 
on. When I was at Paris, in 1774, die tranflator of 
the fir it volume of my Experiments on Air could not 
obtain leave to publifh the whole of my Preface, which 
contained fome free fentiments concerning the general 
extenfion of knowledge. The infpector of the prefs 
defired a friend to inform me, that he had not himfelf 
any objection to the publication ; but that the nature 
of his offiice was fuch, that it would be too hazardous 
for him to admit of it. 

But did this ftrictnefs prevent the revolution ? 
The freed publications were at the fame time circula- 
ted with the greater! induftry, and they were read 
with avidity, and with tenfold effect, in conlequence 
of it. The fame will be the cafe in every other country 
in which the fame meafures {hall be adopted ; fo that 
without pretending to any extraordinary means of 
prying into futurity, we may predict, that the caufe 
of monarchy in England, and that of federalifm in this 
country, will be no gainers eventually by what their 
advocates are doing in this way.* 

I am, &c. 



* The event has abundantly juftified this predi&ion. 



68 



To the Inhabitants 



LETTER XL 

Of the Laws relating to Aliens, and the Naturalization 
of Foreigners, 

My Friends and Neighbours, 

ALL the laws refpecHng aliens, and thofe that are 
calculated to throw difficulties in the way of natural- 
izaiion^ have been made hnce my arrival in the country, 
*tnd I am far from feeing the wifdom of them. Little 
did I then expect that, tho 5 I continued an alien, I 
ihould not have the right of a trial by jury, v. hich your 
conftitution exprefsly gives to all perfons without ex- 
ception, if I mould be accufed of any crime ; whereas 
1 now find that, not only without the benefit of a 
jury, but that even without a trial, or indeed any 
for nnl accufat ion, your Prefident may, of his own fuf- 
picion only, lend me out of the country. And in this 
cafe perfecl innocence is no fecurity ; fince the bell: of 
men are liable to prejudice, and open to falfe infor- 
mation. 

It is not denied that thofe Jaws were intended to ex- 
clude from this country the friends of liberty, opprobri- 
ouilly called Jacobins, Democrats, &c. emigrating from 
Europe, a defcription of men in which I am proud 
to rank royfeif. But coniider the matter calmly, and 
fay whether you can think the object worth fecuring 
by this means. What does this country, I do not fay 
the governors of it, but what does the country, what do 
your/elves, gain by it ? You certainly do not now 
want people from Europe. Your population increa- 
fes faft enough without this additional fource ; but 
you want the money of Europeans, to clear your coun- 
try, and cultivate your lands, and you cannot expect 
the money without the men. 



Of Northumberland, EsV. 



Had thofc laws been made fix years ago, there 
would not have been an Engliihman in this place ; but 
though the makers and friends of the laws would not 
have been forry for this, can you fay the fame ? Have 
the proprietors of lands and houfes, have your arti- 
fans, and your labouring poor, derived no advantage 
from our relidence among you ? Have you not been 
benefited by the purchafes we have made, and the 
punctuality of our payments ; and what is perhaps 
more than this, by the example of cur activity and 
induftry, which are habitual to Englimmen ? 

You fee, belides, that the dread of our politics*, 
which has been the caufe cf all thefe harm laws, is 
altogether chimerical. For the Engliih of this place 
are not more agreed on this fubjecl: than you are 
yourfelves. Several of us are as good federalifts as 
any of you, and none of us more violently demo- 
cratical than others of you. And the generality are 
men who quietly mind their bufmefs, without giving 
themfelves, or you, any trouble on the fubjecl. Very 
far mould I have been from writing thefe expoftula- 
tory letters on the fubjecl of Politics, if I could have 
been fuffered as quietly to follow the bufmefs of my 
library and laboratory, as they do that of their feve- 
ral profeffions. But to be held out as I have been 
for feveral years as a dangerous perfon, on whom it 
behoves the governors of the country to keep a 
watchful eye, and perhaps to have been in a great 
meafure the caufe of the prevailing jealouly of fo- 
reigners, and of the laws that are calculated to ex- 
clude them, has at length, though with much reluc- 
tance, led me to endeavour to undeceive you. If i 
fucceed it will be to your advantage as well as mine. 
If not, things will only remain as they were .before. 

Admitting the object of our adverfaries to be a pro- 
per one, I do not fee that they gain any advantage by 
rendering naturalization difficult. It is not a man's 
being kept by force in the ftate of an alien that will dif- 



/ O To the Inhabitants 

pofe him to think better of any country ; nor, if his 
difpoiltion be hbftile to it, and he be chagrined by this 
fufpicion of him, will it be at all the lefs in his power 
to do the mifchief that is apprehended from him . His 
being an alien does not prevent his (peaking or wri- 
ting ; and by the ufe of his tongue, and his pen, he 
has all the influence that his talents and activity can give 
him. All that you can take from him is his capacity 
for enjoying any civil office, which a ftrangef , though 
naturalized, would not foon expect; and his fingle vote 
for any other perfon to gain it is of trifling confe- 
quenee among many thoufands. 

If the grofs abufe from which I have never been 
exempted ever fince my arrival in this country could 
have made me an enemy to it (which it by no means 
has done) was it not in my power to have written in 
your newfpapers, or to have published political pam- 
phlets, either anonymouiiy, or otherwife, as I mould 
have thought moil prudent, and by that means to have 
done as much mifchief as if I had been naturalized ? 

Where, then, is the wifdom of thefe meafures, 
which prevent the coming of valuable emigrants, fuch 
as you with to receive, and do not take from thofe 
that you diflike the power of injuring you ? To make 
thefe meafures of any real ufe to thoie who are advo- 
cates for them, they ought to have been carried far- 
ther Aliens mould not have been allowed the ufe of 
pen, ink and paper; or whatever they wrote, mould 
have been fubjecl: to the infpeclion of the officers of 
government. They mould alfo have feen no compa- 
ny but in the prefence of the fame officers. This be- 
ing underftood, the end would be effectually gained, 
byVne voluntary retreat of all the aliens in the coun- 
try, and the prevention of the arrival of any more. 
The half meafures you now take are calculated to do 
you more harm than good. 

What you fee of Englishmen in this place, you 
may take for granted is equally true of thofe that are 



Of Northumberland, 



7* 



fettled in other parts of the continent. The generality 
of theni only wifh to be quiet ; and if they were 
otherwife difpofed, they are in no degree formidable, 
and the country derives advantage from their capital 
and their example, efpecially that of the Englifii 
farmers; and fuch men are of the greater! importance 
in this agricultural country. 

But to find in America the fame maxims of govern- 
ment, and the fame proceedings, from which many 
of us iied from Europe, and to be reproached as 
diilurbers of government there, and chiefly becaufe 
we did what the court of En&iand will never forgive 
in favour of liberty here, is, w r e own, a great difap- 
pointment to us, efpecially as we cannot now return. 
Had Dr. Price hirnfeif, the great friend of American 
liberty in England, or Dr. Wren, with both of whom 
I zealouily acted in behalf of your prifoners, who 
limit otherwife have ftarved, and in every other way 
in which we could fafely ferve your caufe, becaufe 
We thought it the caufe of liberty and jvjiice^ againft 
tyranny and oppreffion ; I fay, had either of thefe zealous 
and a ctive, and certainly, dilinterefied friends of Ame- 
rica, been now living, they would not have been more 
welcome here than myfelf; and they would have 
held up their hands with aftonifhment to fee many of 
the- old tories, the avowed enemies of your revolu- 
tion, in greater favour than ■ themfelves. If in this 
you a£t on the chrifHan principle of forgiving and lov- 
ing your enemies, for which, if they repent, you are to 
be commended, you fiiould not forget your obliga- 
tions to old and iieady friends. 

The emigrants you wifti to exclude are thofe who 
might reafonably expect, to be the bell received here, 
as nioft likely to be attached to your government ; be- 
caufe it is free from every thing that they complain 
of at home. • Finding here no hereditary honours or 
powers, no church' ettabiiihment, few taxes, and thole 
laid by the reprefentatives of the people, freely cho- 



72 



To the Inhabitants 



fen, what could lead to afufpicion that perfons flying 
from what was in all refpecls the reverfe of this in 
Europe fiiould not be the beft friends to the roverr- 
ment here. ° 



I am, &c. 



LETTER XII. 

Of the Policy of America with Refpecl to Foreign 
Nations. 

IS/ly Friends and Neighbours, 

HAVING taken the liberty in the preceding letters 
to arraign the wiidom of foine of the late rneafures 
of your government with refpecl to your home con- 
cerns^ I ihali proceed with the fame, I hope not of- 
fensive, freedom, to fay what I think of your conducl 
towards foreign nations ; and with refpecl to them I am 
of opinion that you have done what your intereft re- 
quired you not to have done. 

While an alliance fubfifted between this country 
and France, which had given you material afliflance 
in aiTerting your independence, a treaty of amity as well 
as of commerce and navigation, mould not, I think 
have been made with England without the knowledge, 
if not the concurrence, of the French government. 
And this being done while thofe countries were in a 
ilate of war, could not fail to give umbrage to France, 
efpecially as your ambalfador, who negociated the trea- 
ty, was oftenlibly lent for a very different purpofe, viz. 



of Northumberland* Zdc. 



73 



to demand fatisfaction for injuries received from En- 
gland. In this proceeding 1 fee nothing of the fairnefs 
and opennefs that 1 mould Have expedled from a re- 
publican government. 

The French government, however, refented this 
conduct more than reafori and true policy required ; 
and though it might have been expected that, if friend 
fhip was really intended, a perfon fuppofed to be friend- 
ly to them would have beenfentto negociate with them^ 
they had no right to reject any perfon s in whom this 
country put confidence. 

The French government, alfo, following the ex- 
ample of England, was much to be blamed for their 
conduct to this country, and to the neutral nations in 
general. . And when your coafts were infulted, and 
your veiTels captured aim oft in the mouths of your har- 
bours, you did right, 1 think, to protect your proper- 
ty, and repel that violent aggreffiom But this might 
have been done without making it a national quarrel, 
by allowing the merchants to defend their property ? 
which they would have done at no great expence; and 
this would have been defrayed in the beft manner by 
an advance of the price of their goods. But to buila 
navies, and especially to raife {landing armies, on ac- 
count of any apprehennon you could reafonably have 
from France, a country fo diftant, and which could 
riot have any imaginable motive for quarrelling with 
you, was 5 in my opinion, the wildeft policy, and put- 
ting the country to a great expence for nothing, if not 
worfe than nothing. For one writer on the fide of 
your government in the Philadelphia Gazette for Oc- 
tober 19, fays that the army was intended to overawe, 
or fupprefs, the democrats. If this be true (and this 
writer has better means of information than I have) 
it is a declaration of war againft thofe who difapprove 
the late meafures.* 

* The writer of this remarkable paper fays, Cf Though France of 
** Rigaud fhould not invade us, we have, nevertheiefs, ail the boil of 

L 



74 



To the Inhabitants 



Though I honour your Prefident for his frank and 
open conducl, the reverfe of that of the crafty politici- 
an, which I con (id r as one of the moft deteftable of 
human characters, I could not approve of his unnecef- 
fary and inceiiant, not to fay unjuft, invectives againif. 
the French government. It was in my opinion un- 
becoming a wife ftatefman, and muft render a recon- 
ciliation with France ( which is certainly a very delira- 
ble object) more difficult than it would otherwise be, 
during his preiidency ; unlefs the French directory 
have more temper and prudence than we can reafona- 
bly expecl. 

All this, you will fay, is nothing more than com- 
mon place party politics. But if I have nothing bet- 
ter, what muft I fay ? You wifh I fuppofe, to know 
my fentiments, and they are fuch as I have to offer on 
a rubiecl which has agitated the minds of all the citi- 
zens of the United States. However, I mall now 
proceed to observations that are not fo very trite, and 
indeed almoll peculiar to myfelf. 

If any country in the world be fo fituate d as to be 
capable of deriving advantage from all nations, and 
of receiving injury from none of them, it is furely 
this. The native Indians being out of the queflion, 

" internal enemies to keep down. What can do it fo effectually as a 
se good body of troops ? — To keep thieves off, have a gun or a fword 
" at your bed fide. To keep traitors, united Irimmen, and French- 
ee men in awe, have fo.me troops ready to repel the jfir# invaders, to 
f - cruih the rirrt rifings and ieditions. An ounce cf prevention is 
" worth a tun of remedy."—- 

" Military force, they tell us, is fometimes abufed. What power 
" is not ? Civil power certainly is. But a military force more fre- 
( < .quentiy turns again ft its employers than it betrays or repreiTes liber- 
ec ty. That is. indeed, a ftrorig argument againfl ufing it. But re- 
" mote dangers are to be difregarded when greater are imminent. 
" jacobins are to be kept out of the army and militia. Government 
ts mud ufe its beft courage and vigilance." 

" Plain truth, like this, is not to be expected from men in Ccngrefs, 
cc or general courts. This is no good reafon why it mould not be told 
«* by other honell men, nor why honell men mould reject it." 



Of Northumberland) £sV. 



75 



as having no power to hurt you, all that you can 
have in contemplation are the feveral powers of Eu- 
rope, generally, and especially at this time, in a irate 
of war with each other. But as it is the inter eft of 
them all to be upon good terms with this country, 
it is very eafy for this country to be upon good terms 
with them, without taking any part in their quarrels. 

As this nation wants no territory belonging either 
to France or England, the two great rival nations or 
Europe, and they have no vifible interefr. in coveting 
any thing belonging to this, no natural caufe of ho ill- 
lity can exift with refpect to either of them. Every 
poffible difference muft relate to commercial inter- 
courie. But if regard to pr oft and lofs hQ the leading 
principle in all tranfactions of a commercial nature, 
the protection of commerce can never be a.juftifiable 
caufe of war ; becaufe, whatever be the iffue of 
national hoftility, the lofs muft far exceed the amount 
of all the poflible gain. It is the part of y^ifdom, there- 
fore, to bear a fmailer lofs, rather than endeavour to 
repair it, with the certainty of incurring a greater. 

As to mere infults, there is more dignity in dt£ 
piling than in refentipg them. No expreffions of con- 
tempt can juftify a war between nations, any 
more than it will juftify duels between individuals. 
In both cafes alike it is the conduct of men governed 
by paffion rather than by reafon, by a principle of falfe 
honor, rather than the true one. 

I, as a democrat, and an enemy to (landing armies, thank the wri- 
ter of this paper, and a! Co the perfon who introduced the extracts 
from it into the Northumberland Gazette of h o<v. 9, for this frank 
communication. When perfons in office will not, as this writer fays, 
fpeak out, and tell their whole meaning, we are obliged to their 
friends for doing it for them. I wifh this paper may be copied into 
every Newfpaper in the United States ; as 1 am confident it would do 
more towards opening the eyes of the people with refpecl to the late 
mea Cures of the government, than all our writing. And if this be 
done, there will be nothing to apprehend either from {edition laws, 
or (landing armies. The taiifman will be broken, and the caftle, 
with all its terrific apparatus, will vanim at once. 



To the Inhabitants 



All the intercourfe you can want with any foreign 
nation is, as I have obferved, a commercial one ; and 
the idea of commerce is very ftmple. It confifts in 
nothing more than the exchange of one commodity- 
for another. If any thing that you have be of lefs 
value to you than it is to a foreign nation, and any 
thing that they have be of more value to you than it 
Is to them, it is for the benefit of both countries to 
exchange the one for the other. But the means, or 
the mode, in which this exchange is made is not the 
commerce, A third nation might be the carrier of 
the different commodities from "the one to the other. 

If the merchants of either of the two countries un- 
dertake this bufinefs, it is foreign to what is properly 
their own ; and if, in any fituation of national affairs, 
there be peculiar hazard in this bufinefs, thofe who 
undertake it ought to lay their account with that 
hazard before they engage in it, as perfons who un- 
dertake any other kind of bufinefs do with refpe& to 
theirs. And whatever lofs is incurred by it, it will 
not fall upon them, but upon their cuftomers. For 
in all cafes the confumer is the perfon who pays every 
expence attending the railing , or the tranfport, of the 
commodity that he purchafes. 

l - If any number of perfons eniure the fafety of mips 
at fea," they expect to be gainers by that undertaking, 
as welF as the merchant by his, or the farmer by his ; 
and the merchant will not fail to charge the price of 
the infurance to his cuftomers. Is it not far- better, 
then, to let things go on in this natural train, in 
Which the only inconvenience is" that, during this 
Hate of things, the confumer will pay a little more 
than ufual for his commodity, than to defend this 
particular branch of bufinefs by involving the nation 
in a war ? 

Exclufive of all confideration of the horrors of 
war to which ftatefmen in general give little atten- 



Of Northumberland, £sV. 



77 



don, it were far better, that is, far lefs expenfrve, for 
the nation to pay for all the lots by a direct tax; but 
much better {till, if the rifk of lots be very great, to 
fufpend that branch of bufinefs altogether. Others, 
who can do it at a iefs riik, will be ready enough to 
undertake it ; and the competition of nations, and 
of merchants, is fuch, that the country will be ferv- 
ed as well, and as cheaply, as the {fate of things will 
bear. While the fea remains open to all nations, we 
need not fear wanting any thing that other nations 
can fupply us with. Allowing this to be an evil, or 
an undefirable {fate of things, it cannot be of any 
long continuance. After this things will return to 
their natural Hate, and the merchants may undertake 
the carrying trade, in addition to their proper bufinefs, 
as before. 

But if navies mull be built and manned for the 
fake of protecting this particular branch of bufinefs, 
and what is a neceiTary confequence, if hoftilities muft 
be engaged in firft at fea, and then by land ; and if 
ambafTadors muft be maintained at foreign courts, 
which is another confequence of the fame fyftem, for 
one dollar that the former fyftem would require, this 
will require a tlioufand, to fay nothing of the intri- 
cacy of foreign politics, and the lives that will be 
loft in war. The kingdom of China acts upon the 
fyftem that I wilh to recommend. That country has 
an extenfive commerce with all the world, but it em- 
ploys few mips of its own, it has no reHdent ambaffa- 
dor at any foreign court, and it has no wars on ac- 
count of commerce. 

The merchant, or rather the carrier of mercandife 
from port to port, will fay, that as he follows a lawful 
occupation, he ought to be protected in it. But then 
every other perfon whofe occupation is lawful has the 
fame plea for a reimburfement of his loffes ; for exam- 
ple the farmer, the manufacturer, &c. Do they not 
all lay their account with the accidents to which their 



78 



To the Inhabitants 



fever al profefiions are liable, and charge their cuftom- 
ers accordingly ? • 

If the farmer fhould apply to Congrefs for indem- 
nification of his loffes by ltorms, drought, or infecls, 
would he not be told that he knew his undertaking: to 
befubjecl: to all thofe accidents, that it was his buli- 
nefs, and not theirs, to guard againft them as well as 
he could, and that he might indemnify himfelf by the 
advanced prices of fuch products as he was able to 
raife? And fliould not the fhipper of goods, and the 
Infurers, be content with a fimilar anfwer to their 
complaints, whether of loffes by pirates, privateers 
cf other nations, he. &c. as well as by iliipwrecks. 
All thefe fhould be equally confidered as accidents, to 
which, in a particular Hate of things, they knew 
their undertaking to be liable, as much as the farmer 
was apprifed of the danger of bad feafons. 

They might farther be told, that it would be the 
extreme of folly, and injuftice, in the reprefentatives 
of the nation, to involve it in a ftate of war, for the 
recovery of any ium they could have loft by the cer- 
tain expenditure of a hundred times as much ; befides 
hazarding the fafety of the whole ftate. 

It follows from thefe principles, that if any indem- 
nification be procured from a roreign nation for the 
5|njuft feizing of luips and merchandize, the perfons 
entitled to it are not the merchants or the infurers of 
rnerchandife. For, as a body, they are fufticiently 
indemnified already, their bufinefs having been on 
the whole a gainful one, even in time of war; but 
thefe who have indemnified them by giving an ad- 
vanced price for their goods. And as it is impoiiible 
to find thefe perfons, who are the only fufferers, the 
money mould go to the public treafury, for the alle- 
viation of the public burdens. 

The body of merchants not. being numerous, and 
eafily uniting for their common inter-eft, can bring 
their complaints in a plaufible form before the legif- 



Of Northumberland \ &c. 



79 



lature; and by means of their interefx with the 
members may procure what is not theirdue ; where- 
as the purehaiers of their goods have no fuch ad- 
vantage. They are infinitely more numerous, they 
are difperfed over the whole country, and few 
of them are acquainted with thole who have influence 
in public affairs ; and therefore their complaints arc 
not heard, nor are they fufficiently attended to. 

It is hoped, however, that their fituation will in 
time be better underftcod, and that the only relief 
that can be piven Mil be afforded them. It was an 

o m 

excellent maxim frequently inculcated by my friend 
Dr. jebb, that truth and right will finally prevail, and 
that no good effort is ever wholly loft, and I am as confi- 
dent of it in this cafe, as in any other, remote as the 
juft view of it may now be from the apprehenfion of 
the generality. On this important fa hi eel of PolU 
tical Arithmetic, I would recommend \htE/jo:ys of Mr* 
Cooper, who independently of me adopted the, fame 
principles, and has enforced them in his excellent 
manner. 

A nation conducing its affairs on thefe maxims, 
defending its territory by a well difeiplined militia, re- 
monftrating againff injuries from other nations, but 
never revenging them, and withal acting jufily and 
generoufly on all occaiions, could not fail to be ref- 
pecled, and would not be fubject to many infults. It 
would infure the invaluable bleiTmg of peace. It would 
employ its hands, and its capital, in the improvement 
of the country, in making bridges, roads, and navi- 
gable canals, in encouraging fcience, agriculture, and 
manufactures. It would contract no debts, and have 
occalion for few taxes ; and therefore could not fail to 
flourihh more than any country has ever yet done. 

When I once took the liberty to throw out thefe 
hints to the Prefident, to whom they were not new, 
he quoted the authority of fome perfon which I do not 
recollect, who faid that s: a nation that could act on 



So 



To the Inhabitants 



" fuch maxims would command the world !" I doubt 
not it foon would ; and there is a nation now under 
the dlicipline of providence deftined for this great pur- 
pofe. It is to govern the world in peace, v/ben na- 
tion will no more rife up againft nation, and when they will 
learn war no more. This happy Hate of things is dif- 
tinelly announced in the prophecies of fcripture, fo 
that no chriftian can have any doubt with refpecl to 
it ; and the prefent appearance of things in the old 
world is fuch as leads me to expect that it vr ill take 
place at no very great diftance of time. It is, howe- 
ver, according to the fame prophecies, to be preceded 
by a feafon of uncommon calamity fuch as there never 
was fence there was a nation (T)an. xii. i.) and efpecially 
by the deilrucdon of men in war, which we now fee a- 
bundantly verified ; but the final iffue is to be moll 
glorious and happy. It will be what is in the prophe- 
cies called the kingdom of heaven, a ftate of righteoufnefs 
and peace. With refpeel to this, I faid fome years a- 
go, what I ihali repeat, and conclude with now. 
" May this kingdom of God, and of Chrift, that which 
cc I conceive to be intended in the Lord's prayer, ful- 
cs ly come, though all the kingdoms of the world be 
4S removed to make way for it." 

Hoping to have no occaiion to trouble you with any 
more Letters of this kind, 1 am, with my wifhes and 
prayers for your temporal and eternal welfare, 

My Friends and Neighbours, 

Yours fincereiy, 



J. PRIESTLEY. 



of Northumberland) &c. 



81 



P. S. Finding that it is generally reported among 
thofe who call themfelves Tederalijls, that Mr. Cooper 
writes as prompted, or fupported, by me, I think it 
right to obferve, that they who believe this know no» 
thing of Mr. Cooper, or of me. Everything that he 
has written has been wholly independent of me. He 
is not a man that requires to be prompted, or fuppoit- 
ed, by any perfon. Though I was frequently in his 
company during the publication of his Effays, I never 
faw one of them, nor do I diftinctly recollect even 
hearing him mention the fubjecl; of any of them, be- 
fore their publication. 



MAXIMS 
o w 

POLITICAL ARITHMETIC, 

Applied to the cafe of the United States of America, firfi 
piiblijhed in the Aurora^for February 26 and 27, 1798.* 
(By a Quaker in Politics. J 

AN idea of the true interefts of any country is per- 
haps moil eaiily formed by fuppofing it to be the pro- 
perty of one perfon, who would naturally wifh to de- 

* Some of the leading fentiments in this paper are the fame with 
thofe in the preceding Letters: but they could not well be left .oyt, 
and I think them of fufficient importance to be repeated. 

M 



82 



20 the Inhabitants 



rive the greateft advantage from it, and who would 
therefore, lay out his capital in fuch a manner as to 
make it the moft productive to him. * An attention to 
the feparate and difcordant interefls of different claffes 
of men, is apt to diffract the mind : but when all the 
people are confidered as members of one family, who 
can be difpofed of, and employed, as the head of i| 
fhall direct, for the common benefit, that caufe of 
embarrafTnient is removed. 

To derive the greateft advantage from any country 
it will be neceffary that attention be paid, in the firft 
place, to the wants of nature, and to raife from it, 
in the greateft quantity and perfection, fuch produc- 
tions as are neceffary to feed and clothe the inhabitants, 
and to provide them with habitations, in order to 
guard them againft the inclemency of the weather ; 
and after this fuch as are of ufe to their more comfor- 
table accommodation, and the fupply of artificial 
wants. 

If any country be completely infulated, or cut off 
from all communication with other countries , it will 
be neceffary to raife all thofe articles within itfelf ; but 
when a communication is opened with other coun- 
tries, the proprietor will do well to give his whole at- 
tention to thofe productions Avhicli his own country 
can beft yield, and exchange the fur plus for fuch ar- 
ticles as other countries can better fupply him with. 
For by that means, his labour will be employed to the 
moft advantage. If, for example, it would employ 
him a month to go through all the proceifes which are 
neceffary to make a piece of cloth, when the effect of 
the labour of a week in his hufbandry would enable 
him to purchafe that cloth, it will be better for him to 
confine himfelf to his hufbandry, and buy his cloth; 
befides that, not making it his fole bufinefs, he would 
not, with any labour, make it fo well. And now that 
a communication by fea with all parts of the world is 
fo well eftablilhed, that it may be depended upon that 



Of Northumberland, &c. 



83 



>\ hatever any country wants another can fupply it 
with, to the advantage of both, this exchange may be 
made with little interruption, even by war. 

Commerce con lifts in the exchange of the commo- 
dities of one country for thofe of another; and as this,, 
like any other bufinefs, will be performed to the moft 
advantage by perfons who give their whole attention 
to it, and who are called merchants, it will be moft 
convenient, in general, that this be done by them, 
rather than by thofe who employ themfelves in railing 
the produce. The bufinefs of conveying the produce 
of one country to another is a different thing from 
merchandife. Thofe who employ fhips for this pur- 
pofe, are paid for their trouble by the freight of their 
veffels, while the merchant fubfifts from what he gains 
by the exchange of commodities. 

What is generally termed aclive commerce is that 
which is carried on by the natives of any country in 
fhips of their ©wn, conveying their produce to other 
countries, and bringing back theirs in return ; and 
that is called pajfive commerce which is carried on at 
home, people of other countries bringing their com. 
modities, and taking back what they want in ex- 
change for them. The quantity of proper com- 
merce, or merchandife, is the fame in both thefe 
cafes. All the difference confifts in the employment 
given to the carriers, and the (hipping, of the differ- 
ent countries. 

While the communication with other countries by 
fea is open, it cannot be for the intereft of any coun- 
try, either to impofe duties on goods brought into it, 
or to give bounties on thofe that are exported : be- 
caufe, by both thefe means, the people are made to 
pay more than they other wife would do for the fame 
benefit. In both cafes the price of the goods mull 
be advanced. He who pays the duty will be refund- 
ed at leaft, by the perfons who purgfcafe the commo- 



To the Inhabitants 



dity, and the bounty to the vender mull be paid by 
a tax on all the inhabitants. 

It is, no doubt, the intereft of any particular clafs 
of perfons to extend their bufmefs, and thereby in- 
creafe their gains. But if their fellow citizens pay 
more in the advanced price of what they purchafe 
than their gain amounts to, the community is a lofer ; 
and if it be equal, one clafs is made to contribute to 
the maintenance of another, when all have an equal 
natural right to the fruits of their own labour. 

For the fame reafon, if, on any account, the con- 
veyance of goods from one country to another be at- 
tended with more lofs than gain, the perfon in whofe 
hands was the property of the whole would difconti- 
nue that branch of bulinefs, and employ his capital in 
fome other way, or rather let it remain unproductive 
than employ it to a certain lofs. 

Thefe maxims appear to me to be incontroverti- 
ble in the abftract. What then may be learned from 
them with refpect to this country, lituated as it now 
is ? 

Without inquiring into the caufe, which is no part 
of my object, it is a fad, that the conveyance of 
goods, or the carrying trade of this country, which 
has generally been taken up by the merchants, though 
it is no neeeffary branch of their bulinefs, is peculiar- 
ly hazardous, and of courfe expeniive. This ex- 
pence the country at large muft pay, in the advanced 
price of the goods purchafed. In this ftate of things 
it has alfo been found neeeffary to fend ambaffadors 
to diftant countries, in order to remove the fuppof- 
ed caufe of the difficulty, which is attended with 
another expence. It has likewife been thought ne- 
eeffary to build {hips of war for the purpofe of pro- 
tecting this carrying trade ; and if this be done to any 
effect, it muft be attended with much more expence. 

I do not pretend to be able to calculate the expence 
occafioned by any of thefe circumftauces j but the 



Of Northumberland, EsV. 



»5- 



amount of all the three, viz. the additional price to the 
carrier to indemnify him for his rifque, the expence 
of ambaffadors, and that of fitting out mips of war, 
I cannot help thinking mull be much more than all 
the profit that can be derived from the carrying trade ; 
and if fo, a perfon who had the abfolute command of 
all the flapping, and all the capital, of the country, 
would fee it to be his intereft to lay up his fhips for 
t he prefent, and make fome other ufe of his capitaL 
And as the greateil part of the country is as yet un- 
cleared, and there is a great want of roads, bridges 
and canals, the ufe of which would fufficiently repay 
him for any fums laid out upon them, and they 
would not fail to contribute to the improvement 
of the country, which I fuppofe to be his eftate, he 
would naturally lay out his fuperfluous capital on 
thefe great objects. The expence of building one 
man of war would fuffice to make a bridge over a 
river of considerable extent, and (which ought to 
be a ferious confideration) the morals of labourers are 
much better preferved than thofe of feamen ; and 
efpeciaily thofe of foldiers. 

Another great advantage attending this con duel: is, 
that the country would be in no danger of quarrel- 
ling with any of its neighbours, and thereby the ha- 
zard of war, which is neceiiarily attended with in- 
calculable evils, phyfical and moral, would be avoid- 
ed. To make this cafe eaiier to myfelf, I would corifi* 
der injuries done by other nations, in the fame light 
as loffes by hurricanes or earthquakes ; and without 
indulging any refentment, I would repair the damage 
as well as I could. I would not be angry where anger 
could anfwer no good end. If one nation affront 
another, the people would do beft to take it patiently, 
and content themfelves with making remonftrances. 
There is the trueft dignity in this con duel; and un- 
provoked injuries would not often be repeated, as the 



86 



To the Inhabitants 



injurious nation would foori find that it gained neither 
credit nor advantage by fuch behaviour, 

This is the cafe with independent individuals, and 
why fhouid it be otherwife with independent nations P 
Raih and hafty men, Handing on what they fancy to 
be honour^ are ever quarrelling, and doing themfelves, 
as well as others, infinitely more mifchief than could 
poffibly arife from behaving with Chriftian meeknefs 
and forbearance. In facl, they acl like children, who 
have no command of their pailions, and not like men, 
governed by reafon. In this calculation, peace of 
mindj which is preferved by the meek, and loft by 
the quarrelfome, is a very important article. 

It will be faid, that merchants, having no other 
occupation than that of fending goods to foreign 
countries, by which their own is benefited, have a 
right to the protection of their country. But what is 
the rule of right in this, or any other cafe? It muft be 
regulated by a regard to the good of the whole ; and 
if the country receive more injury than benefit by 
any branch of bufinefs, it ought to be difcontinued ; 
and thofe who engage in any bufinefs, mould lay their 
account with the rifque to which it is expoied, as 
much as the farmer with the rifque of bad feafons, 
for which his country makes him no indemnification, 
though his employment is as beneficial to it as that of 
the merchant. 

If, therefore, in thefe circum fiances of extraordi- 
nary hazard, any perfon will fend his goods to fea, it 
mould be at his own rifque ; and the country, which 
receives more injury than advantage from it, and 
whofe peace is endangered by it, fhouid not indem- 
nify him for anylofs. Let him, however, be fully 
apprifed of this ; and if he will perfiil in doing as he 
has done, the confequence is to himfelf, and his 
country is not implicated in it. 

This is a country which wants nothing but peace ^ 
and an attention to its natural advantages, to make 



Of Northumberland^ &c. 



87 



it moft flourifhing and refpectable : and wanting the 
manufactures of other countries, its friendfhip will 
be courted by them all, on account of the advantage 
they will derive from an intercourfe with it. Other 
countries being fully peopled, the inhabitants rrmjl ap- 
ply to manufactures ; and where can they find fuch a 
market as this muft neceflariiy be ? And on account of 
the rivallhip and competition which there will be 
among them, the people of this country cannot fail to 
be ferved in the cheapeft manner by them all. This 
will be independent of all their politics, with which 
this country has nothing to do. But if, by endea- 
vouring to rival any of them in naval power f which 
will only referable the frog in the fable endeavouring 
to fwell itfelf to the iize of the ox) it excites their 
jealoufy, and this country mould join any one of 
them again ft any other, it will certainly not only lofe 
the advantage it might derive from the trade of that 
country, but pay dearly for its folly, by the evils of a 
{late of warfare. 

What feems to be more particularly impolitic in 
this country, as ill fuiting the ftate of it 3 is the duty 
on the importation of books , which are fo much want- 
ed, and which even great encouragement could not 
produce here. Is it at all probable that fuch works as 
the Greek and Latin claffics, thofe of the chriftian Fa- 
thers, thePolyglott Bible, the Philofophical Tranf- 
actions, or the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, 
he. &c. will, in the time of our great grand children 
be printed in the United States ? and yet there is a hea~ 
vy duty on their importation ; and for every printer, 
or maker of paper for printing, there are, no doubt, 
feveral thoufand purchafers of books, all of whom are 
taxed for their advantage. In thefe circumftances, it 
were furely better to have more cultivators of the 
ground, and fewer printers. 

When I fee at what expence ainba&adors arefent to 
foreign and diftant countries, with which this coun- 



88 



c 2<? the Inhabitants 



try has little or iio intercourfe ; and when it is very 
problematical whether in any cafe, they have not done 
more harm than good," and think what folid advan- 
tage might be derived from half the expence in fend- 
ing out men of fcience for the purpofe of purchafmg 
works of literature and philofophical inftruments, of 
which all the univerfities and colleges of this country 
are moll difgracefully deftitute ; and that the expence 
of one of the three frigates would have fupplied all of 
them with telefcopes equal to that of Di\ Herfchell, and 
other philofophical inftruments in the fanie great ftyle, 
to the immortal honour of any adminiftration, I la- 
ment that the progrefs of national wifdom mould be 
fo flow, and that our country profits fo little by the 
experience and the folly of others. The Chinefe never 
had refident arnbafiadors in any country, and what 
country has flourifhed more than China ? 

A foreigner travelling in the interior part of this 
country, and finding the want of roads, bridges and 
inns, wonders that things of fuch manifefl utility 
mould not have more attention paid to them, when he 
fees that great fums are raifed and expended on objects, 
the ufe of which is at beft very doubtful. And men 
of letters coming to reftde here, find their hands tied 
up. Books of literature are not to be had, and philo- 
fophical inftruments can neither be made nor pur- 
chafed. Every thing of the kind mull be had from 
Europe, and pay a duty on importation. 

But all this may be ffiort fighted fpeculation ; and 
it may be, nay 1 doubt not it is, better for the world at 
large, that its progrefs mould not be fo rapid ; that a 
long ftate of infancy, childhood and folly, mould pre- 
cede that of manhood and true wifdom ; and that vices, 
which will fpring up in all countries, are better check- 
ed by the calamities of war than by reafon and philo- 
fophy. 

It may be the wife plan of Providence, by means 
of the folly of man, to involve this country in the 



Of Northumberland, &c. 



8 9 



vortex of European politics, and the mifery of Euro- 
pean wars ; and to prevent the importation of the 
means of knowledge till a better ufe would be made of 
them. Nadons make flower advances in wifdom than 
individual men, in fome proportion to their longer 
duration. But what they acquire at a greater ex- 
pence, they retain better ; fo that, I doubt not, there 
is much wifdom in this part of the general conftitu- 
tion of things. 

A ftranger is apt to wonder that political animofity 
mould have got to fo grclt a v -'right in this country, 
when all ivere fo lately united in their conteft with a 
common enemy; and that their enmity, which can- 
not be of long ftanding, mould be as inveterate as in 
the oldeft countries, where parties have fubiifted time 
immemorial. But it may be the delign «S Providence, 
by this means, to divide this widely extended country 
into fm.dler States, which fliaTbe at war with each 
other, that by their common mfferings their common 
vices may be corrected, and thus lay a foundation for 
the folid acquifition of wifdom ; which will be more 
valued in confequence of having been more dearly 
bought in fome future age. 

Divided as the people of this country are, fome in 
favour of France, and others of England, I mould not 
much wonder, if the decifion of the government in 
favour of either of them fhould be the caufe of a civil 
war. But even this, the moil calamitous of all events, 
would promote a greater agitation of men's minds, and 
be a more effectual check to the progrefsof In T ury, vice, 
and folly, than any other mode of difcipline, and at 
the fame time that it will evince the folly of man, may 
difplay the wifdom of Him who ruleih in the kingdoms 
of men, and who appoints for all nations fuch rrovern- 
ments, and fuch governors, as their ftate, aiid that of 
other countries connected with them, really req\|tres, 
Pharaoh occupied as important a Ration in the plan of 
Divine Providence, as king David, though called a 

N 



To the Inhabitants 



pan after God's own heart. For his wife and excellent 
purpofes, the one was as neceiTary as the other. 

Many lives, no doubt, will be loft in war, civil or 
foreign ; but men muft die ; and if the deitruction of 
one generation be the means of producing another 
which ftall be wifer and better, the good will exceed 
the evil, great as it may be, and greatly to be deplored, 
as all evils ©ught to be. 

A flranger naturally expects to find a greater fim~ 
plicity of manners, and more virtue, in this new coun- 
try, as it is called, than in the old ones. But a nearer 
acquaintance with it, will convince him, that, confider- 
ing how ealily fubfiftence is procured here, and confe- 
quently how few incitements there are to the vices of 
the lower claifes efpecialiy, there is lefs virtue as well as 
lefs knowledge, than in moft of the countries of Eu- 
rope. In many parts of the United States there is al- 
fo lefs religion^ at leaft of a rational and ufeful kind. 
And where there is no fenfe of religion, no fear of God, 
or refpecl to a future {late, there will be no good mo- 
rals that can be depended upon. Laws may reftrain 
the excefles of vice, but they cannot impart the prin- 
ciples of virtue. 

Infidelity has made great progrefs in France, through 
all the continent of Europe, and alfo in England ; but 
I much queftion whether it be not as great in Ameri- 
ca; and the want of information in the people at large 3 
makes thoufands of them the dupes of fuch mallow 
writings as thofe of Mr. Paine, and the French unbe- 
lievers, feveral of which are tranfiated and published 
here; and either through want of knowledge, or of 
zeal, little or nothing is done by the friends of Reve- 
lation, to Hop the baneful torrent. 

All this, however, I doubt not, will appear to have 
Jxen ultimately for the bed. Let temperate and wife 
men forwarn the country of its danger, and, as they 
are in duty bound, endeavour to prevent, or alleviate 3 
evils of every kind. Their conduct will meet the ap- 



Of Northumberland, $5? c» §| 



probation of the great Governor of the univerfe ; and^ 
in all events, He, whofe will no foreign power can con- 
trol, being the true and benevolent parent of all the 
human race, will provide for the happinefs of his off- 
spring in the moft effectual manner, though, to our 
imperfect underftanding, the fteps which lead to it be 
incomprehenfible. We muft not do evil that good 
may come, becaufe our underftanding is finite, and 
therefore we cannot be fure that the good we intend 
will come. But the Divine Being, whofe forelight is 
unerring, continually acts upon that maxim, and ? 
we fee, to the greateft advantage. 



A Letter to a friend in Paris, 
Bear Sir, 

YOU, who know me fo well as yen do, will be not a little 
furprifed to fee the account that Mr. Liancourt has given of 
me in his Travels through the North American States, and 
will wifh to know what I have to fay to it. 

He reprefents me as " having come to this country td en- 
41 joy that high celebrity and diflinction which was promifed 
u me by fome flattering friends. In " this/' he fays, U I was 
I completely deceived % and that on this account I removed 
W to this diftant part of the country ; that the perfecuted uni- 
r tarians were to join and rally under my banner, m a fettle- 
" ment in which I was to enjoy a diftinguifhed protection on 
u the part of the American government,, and to fecure me a 
" name, as die chief of the feci, and founder of the colony .'^ 

" My friends in Philadelphia, he fays, foiicited for me 
<c the profeflbrfliip of chemiftry in the college ; but that this 
I was far beneath my expectations, and that of my family 5 



92 



A Letter to a 'Friend in Paris. 



u and in fine, that it became neceffary for the preservation o£ 
" my celebrity in Europe to withdraw from the fcene." 

He alio fays that " I frequently laugh at the world, but in 
" a manner that clearly appears not to be from my heart.' 7 
He adds that u I was bufy in the inftitution of a college, and 
u that" (according to the Englilh tranilator, for it is notfoin 
the French) " feven thoufancl acres had been afligned me as a 
" free gift."* 

Every article of this account mull have come either from 
Mr. Liancourt's own imagination, or the information of per- 
fons who ignorantly or wilfully deceived him ; for there is 
no truth in any part of it. If I may be believed, and thofe 
who know me better than Mr. Liancourt can do, will not ques- 
tion what I fay, I had no flattering friend to promife me the 
high celebrity he fays I came to enjoy, nor have I been at ail 
difappointed in my views with refpecl: to this country. In- 
deed, if I had the high celebrity that he Speaks of in Europe, 
I could hardly have been very anxious about any addition to 
it from America. 

I came to Northumberland to be near to a fettlement that 
had been projected for a number of Engliflimen, but not par- 
ticularly for unitarians. It is a full proof of this, that of thofe 
who were Selected to judge oS the lands, and carry the Scheme 
into execution, only my Son was oS the Same religious perSua- 
Sion with myfelf. Though this fcheme was abandoned, my 
wife and I liking this place, we determined to fettle here, 
before I heard any thing of the proSefforniip of chemiftry. 
If any friend folicited this place for me I am to this day igno- 
rant of it. It was offered to me by,an unanimous vote of the 
truftees of the Univerfity, but I did not accept of it, becaufe 
I did not want the emoluments of it, and it would have in- 

* A writer in the Philadelphia Gazette Says, that the prefidentfiiip 
of this college was intended as a proviiion for me, at the lame time, 
characterizing me by forne opprobrious appellation in the ityle of Fe* 
ter Porcupine, but which I do not now recoiled. Bat it is well 
known that 1 undertook to difcharge the duties of this office and to 
give le&ures gratis, as I had done at the New College in Hackney, 
near to which I refided in England. In truth, I expected much trou- 
ble, and but little thanks, for my pains. But after five years of ef- 
forts on the part of the friends of this inftitution, nothing-has hitherto 
been done beyond the erection of a fhell of a building, the expence of 
which is not yet defrayed ; and it does not appear probable that my 
Services will be called for w hile I Shall be capable of giving them. 



A Letter to a Friend in Paris. 



93 



terfered with the leifure which I did want for my various 
purfuits. 

That Mr. Liancourt, or any other perfon, ever heard me 
" laugh at the world" is abfolutely falfe. No perfon living, 
I am perfuaded, is better latisfied with the world, and the 
difpenfations of the great author of it, and efpeciallv his own 
lot in it, than I am ; and for the truth of this I can fafely ap- 
peal to every perfon who has really known me in any lunation, 
here or in England. 

There is as little foundation for another of Mr. Liancourt's 
mfmuations to my prejudice. He fays, " he was received by 
" my fon and myfelf with as much politenefs as our cold and 
u gloomy tempers ever difplay ; that fome Engiifhmen, who 
" lately arrived in America, intended to fettle in the vicinity 
" of Northumberland, but that they abandoned that intention, 
" difgufted with a fort of precedence claimed by me, and my 
" family, and by the aufterity of our manners." 

I wiih he had named thefe perfons, and I now call upon 
him to do it ; that the appeal may be made to them. There 
are many Englifh families now fettled in this place, and I ne- 
ver heard that any of them ever complained of the aufterity 
of our manners, or of any precedence claimed by us ; nor is 
it eafy to fay in what manner any precedence can be claimed 
in a fituation like ours. We received Mr. Liancourt and his 
friend in the befc manner in our power, and without any prof- 
peel of a return ; and from the politenefs of Frenchmen in 
general I mould have expected a more favourable notice of 
us. 

If I may judge of Mr. Liancourt hy what I faw of him, 
(and I faw juft as much of him as he did of me,) I mould 
imagine that I pafs as many chearful hours, both alone and 
in company, as he does. For a Frenchman, we all thought 
him rather dull. But we confidered that out of France 
he was out of his natural element. Otherwife, there would, 
I doubt not, have been more good humour, and alfo more 
truth, in his account of Northumberland. 

If I complained of any want of refpecl being {hewn to 
me on my arrival in this country, or at any time fmce, I 
malt have been very unreafonable. The various expreffions 
of it being entirely unexpected by me, and being unufed to 
any thing of the kind, I was not a little embarraffed with 
them; but I acquitted myfelf as well as I could. The men- 
tion of the particulars, though thus called for, would fubject 
me to the charge of vanity. Had Mr. Liancourt been re- 



94 



A Letter to a Friend in Paris, 



feeived in the fame manner, we mould, I doubt not, have 
had the full detail of them in the account of his travels. 

When I arrived the tide of popular opinion in politics was 
with me. After fome time it turned, and not turning 
with it, I could not expect to be borne up by it. It is now 
turning again; but not being a 'politician by profefilon, this 
is a eircumllance on which I do not lay any Itrefs. As to 
ftatefmen and politicians in general, there are none of them 
whofe opinion concerning me is of more confequence to 
ine, than my opinion concerning them is to them, and I 
have no favours to afe of any of them. 

A welcome reception in any place mull neceffarily depend 
upon the clafs and character of thofe by whom a perfon is 
received. Every thing favourable in my reception in this 
country, I attribute to my being confidered as a friend of 
general liberty, which is profeffed by ail Americans. But 
I could not be chagrined, if, as a Chriftian, I was not re- 
fpecled by unbelievers* as an Unitarian, by Trinitarians, or 
as a Democrat by Ariilocrats ; becaufe I was in known op- 
position to them. 

If Mr. Liancourt's account of the perfons who did not 
chufe to fettle in Northumberland on account of the aufteri- 
ty of our manners be not altogether from his own imagina- 
tion, he mult refer to fome perfons who, being unbelievers 
in chriitianity, might perhaps prefume that our tempers 
were gloomy becaufe we were chrifcians, and give this idea 
of us to him. But what rational or probable ground could 
there be for this opinion ? 

Few perfons have had more opportunities of being ac- 
quainted with unbelievers in every fphere of life than my- 
lelf, and from the bell obfervations that I have been able to 
make, I would not exchange my feelings for thqfe of any of 
them. Indeed, what can be the fource of joy to any perfon, 
who knows that he muft foon die, and who believes that he 
ihall then be blotted out of exigence, compared with thofe 
of the man who believes that he is born for eternity, and 
that his fphere of action and enjoyment will rife in propor- 
tion to the duration of his being ? 

Place me in the loweit condition of human life, as poor, 
oppreifed, and perfecuted, as may be imagined, and only 
let me be a chriitian, and I mall not envy the proudeft mo- 
narch, or the moft felf-fufficient philofopher. I mould even 
look down upon them, but with companion to them, and the 
deepell humility, and unfeigned gratitude to that great 



A Letter to a Friend in Pttris. 



95 



Being who has given me this unfpeakable advantage, in the 
knowledge of the belt of his gifts to man. Unbelievers, i 
doubt not, as well as all other men, have the fame great ul- 
timate defiination, but it is unknown to them, and therefore 
they cannot have that enobiing elevation of mind, which 
the belief of it is calculated to infpire. 

Unbelievers, or any other perfons who have good health, 
and good animal fpirits, the effecl of a good digeftion, will, 
like all other animals, have a certain degree of enjoyment ; 
but as far as refection can add to this (and this muft be a 
confiderable article in the happinefs of ail intelligent beings) 
it is very little, compared to the refources that chriftianity 
fupplies. 

I may be allowed to have fome knowledge of the refources 
of general literature and philofophy ; and thefe are, no 
doubt, connderable, compared to thofe of a perfon who is 
wholly illiterate. But the whole range of thought in the 
mind of an unbeliever, compared to that of a chriftian, is 
not fo much as the harrow orbit of Mercury, to the im- 
menfe fweep of the planet Herfcjbell, and the objects it pre~ 
fents are great and intere icing, in proportion to its extent. 
But this is equally loll to the mere nominal christians, who 
take no pleafure in the ftudy of the fcriptures, and to abfo- 
lute unbelievers. That I do not advance this in favour of 
chriftianity at random, may be prefumed from the age to 
which I am now arrived, and the experience of various vi- 
cilStudes of life. 

There is almoft as little truth in Mr. Liancourt's account 
of my neighbour Mrs. Darch (not Da£h as he writes the 
name) as in what he fays of me and of my fituation and prof- 
peels. He very juftly commends the fpirit and perfe- 
verance pf Mrs, Darch, but he adds what is by no means 
true, that " on the land on which me is fettled not an inch 
" was cultivated, that fix months ago not a hut was to be 
" feen, and not a tree felled/' whereas there had been a fa- 
mily of the name of Macloucl fettled there about fifteen 
years, and all the land had been cleared before me nurchafed 
it. The only improvement of any confequence that me has 
made was to make a new road through a part of the ground. 

He fays, me was then building a ftone houfe. The houfe 
is now built, but it is of wood like my own. Two of her 
daughters, he fays, were married ; whereas this was the 
cafe of only one of 'them. 

I have not noticed all the errors of Mr. Liancourt's ac- 
count of this refpeclahle family, and one of his reflections 
is equally cruel and unjufi. 



96 



A Letter to a Friend in Paris. 



Of Mr. Liancourt's work in other refpecls I do not pre- 
tend to judge, having feen little of North America befides 
the place in which I refide ; but I cannot help fufpecling, 
from this fpecimen, that many o£ his other obfervations are 
equally hafty and inaccurate. 

Requefling that you would make this letter public, and 
tranfmit a copy of it to Mr. Liancourt, that he may have an 
opportunity of defending what he has publifhed, 

lam, 

Dear Sir, 

Yours fincerely, 
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY. 
Northumberland, January 1 801 . 



PUBLISHED By 

Conrad and Co. at their bookftores in Philadelphia, 

Baltimore and Wafhington. 

Political EiTays by Thomas Cooper of Northum- 
berland, the fecond edition with additions, Price fifty 
cents, 



The Conftitutions of the United States, according 
to the lateft amendments, to which are prefixed, the 
Declaration of Independence, and the Federal Con- 
flitution with the amendents. — This edition contains 
the late Conftitutions of Vermont, Delaware, Geor- 
gia, and Kentucky, with the regulations for the go- 
vernment of the Territory North Weft of the Ohio ; 
alfo, the amendments to the Conftitution of Mary- 
land, not in any former edition. 

Price one dollar. 



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